The Other Side Of The Pond
by Lord 0f Storms
Summary: So, what happens when Ashley and Garrus are stranded together on a frozen planet after a thresher maw attrack? Well, you'll just have to read and find out! An unlikely pairing, I know, but I like a challenge! Ashley/Garrus
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes: I know this pairing isn't to some people's tastes; actually, I don't think anybody has written a fic about it yet, so wahey, I'm the first! So, tell me your thoughts. It's rather hard to keep Ashley in character without her seeming racist. In the game, she wasn't so bad with female Shepard, but with male Shepard she could be downright malicious about aliens, until you convert her, that is. I love that. She's not that bad in the end, but in any case, I've written this based on the female Shepard gameplay: where Ashley's a little suspicious of aliens but not nasty about them. I can't stand people who like attributing to the many the behaviour of the few, and it's pretty hard trying to see things from the point of view of those said people. So, I find it hard to empathise with Ashley for this reason, but that make's the story more of a challenge to write, so I'll grasp it with both hands! Enough waffling: Enjoy, please review, and if you want to give any suggestions, or find any mistakes – let me know!**

**The Other Side of the Pond**

CHAPTER 1

The Mako bounced over a steep hill of snow and ice, crashing down the other side with a cloud of ice whirling up from the heavy back wheels.

Ashley gritted her teeth as she was jolted about in her uncomfortable seat. As much as she enjoyed being invited to be in the shore party, she would rather reduce the amount of time they had to spend cooped up in the Mako. Though the rover looked huge from the outside, once within and surrounded by every conceivable bit of technology which was strapped to the walls, there was little room for three. Well, there was, but it would involve one of them riding as a passenger and none of the crew was willing to do that. Instead, Shepard was driving, as she always did (though her skill in this capacity was often questioned by her queasy passengers), Ashley was on the main gun, and Garrus was... well, she wasn't exactly sure what he was doing; she was no tech expert, after all. As far as she could see, he was just tampering with switches and screens, and what she assumed was the navigation system. There was the grenade launcher, but they had encountered no hostiles so far, so he hadn't needed to use it. Such lack of confrontation was also making Ashley's job rather tedious at present.

The Mako lurched downhill, and Ashley was thrown backwards slightly, into the turian, who was already squashed too close to her for comfort. She scowled and pushed herself back into her seat, avoiding her ally's stare.

She had noticed that Shepard (who had slightly more room than them at the front of the Mako), hadn't placed the three Alliance soldiers (Shepard, Ashley and Kaiden), together in a ground mission since Eden Prime, even on the assignments that had nothing to do with finding Saren. Ashley was repeatedly being taken on missions with Wrex and Garrus. Musing over it, she wondered if the Commander –after reflecting on their conversation about Ashley not trusting the pair –had decided it would be easier for the Gunnery-Chief to bond with them, or trust them, or whatever, if she was forced to help them and be helped by them in battle. Or perhaps Shepard just had a bad sense of humour. Ashley had noticed her little hints though, trying to encourage her to make small talk with the aliens in the mess. So far, Tali was the only one she preferred, which was ironic, considering how the majority of people mistrusted quarians the most.

As the Mako swung sideways abruptly, Ashley's face connected with the gun in front of her. She whipped her head back in pain, clutching her nose, just as Garrus was thrown back from his seat. Their heads smashed together, and Shepard stopped the Mako and turned to look at them as coupled groans and expletives filled the claustrophobic vehicle.

"You two okay?" she asked, unable to keep a small grin from her lips.

Ashley pulled a face, trying to rub the back of her head and her nose simultaneously and looking odd for it.

"You're a sadist, skipper," she grumbled with a rueful smile.

"It's not my fault," Shepard grinned. "Besides, I think it's a good way for the crew to get to know each other."

"All right then, why don't you come up here and 'get to know' Garrus, while _I_ drive?"

Shepard opened her mouth to reply, but the turian interrupted. His strange little eyes were focused on something through the glass of the Mako's small windows. He pointed.

"What is that? Over there."

Ashley squinted. A few metres ahead, through the moderate snowfall, she spotted a partially covered platform, surrounded by a strange ring of pillars. There was no way the Mako could make it over there, even that wasn't sturdy enough to roll over the jagged rocks in between them and the odd structure.

"It looks Prothean," Shepard mused. She paused for a while, before fiddling with some screen in front of her.

"I don't think the Mako can reach it, Commander," Garrus frowned. Well, he didn't actually_ frown_ –turians didn't have especially expressive faces –but he sounded doubtful.

"Clearly," Ashley said. "We should just leave it; we've got geth to kill."

"No," Shepard replied simply. "It could be useful, or valuable. I'm gonna check it out, you two stay here."

"No way!" exclaimed Ashley. "I'm going with you. It could be dangerous out there."

Shepard shook her head, sliding her helmet on and connecting it up. Now only her eyes were visible through the narrow slit. She tapped the screen she'd been using seconds before.

"This is a thermal sensor, and it's got enough range to pick up my signal fifteen metres from here. Anyway, you can't come with me Ash, you're the only one of us who doesn't have thermal armour on and I don't want to risk you freezing to death."

"Then take Garrus," Ashley answered, volunteering the turian.

"No, he knows more about the Mako than you, and if something does go wrong, I'd feel much better if he was in here so you guys can help me out."

Ashley scowled, firstly at Shepard's acknowledgement of the turian apparently being more use than her, and secondly at the fact she'd be trapped within the confines of the Mako with him.

"Keep an eye out," Shepard advised. She pressed a lever on the control panels, and the heavy metal door slid open. A brief blast of cold air hit the pair left behind, but Shepard was quickly outside and the door closed behind her.

Ashley hopped out of her seat, and dropped into the one Shepard had just vacated, watching through the wind screen as her comrade forced her way through the blustery atmosphere towards the ruin, directed by a small handheld device which she was attempting to shield from the fierce storm with her hand. The snow storm seemed much worse when they observed someone in it than when just looking through the glass at a white landscape.

She became aware of movement behind her as Garrus abandoned his previous work and came to observe too. He was hunched over, because of the low ceiling, and his attention seemed focused more on the thermal sensor, but it didn't stop Ashley feeling uncomfortable at their close proximity as he leaned over her shoulder.

She glanced back momentarily, jumping as she saw how close his face was to hers. Frozen for a few brief seconds, she stared at him, the alien. Despite having been around these people for quite a while and despite having seen plenty of aliens before, it still amazed her how different they looked from humans, even though some of their emotions and personalities seemed similar. That was one of the reasons why she didn't trust them. Shepard might think they're all friendly and innocent, but Ashley knew full well how underhanded they could be, turians in particular.

She wondered what her father, her whole family would say if they knew what she was currently feeling, the way her innards seemed to be tying themselves in knots, and inexplicable feelings boiled together as she sat there.

Garrus' pale eyes drifted down to hers, though he seemed oblivious to the choking atmosphere that Ashley could feel.

"I don't like this either," he said, perhaps mistaking her intense stare for anger. "But so long as this thermal sensor is picking up Shepard's signal, we shouldn't need to worry. I think she should have allowed one of us to come with her, though."

"Then why didn't you say anything before?" Ashley snapped, falling out of her trance.

"I've already questioned the commander enough lately. She might not officially be my superior, but I consider her to be so while I'm a guest on her ship."

Ashley stared pointedly. It was clearly true what they said, turians are a very military-oriented people, and very keen on observing a hierarchy. She could see his point though. After having almost lost his temper with Shepard when she tried to arrest Dr. Saleon instead of killing him, Garrus probably wanted to remind her that he was still under her orders. She turned back to the colourful collage on the screen.

"I'd prefer it if we were heading directly to Virmire though, instead of stopping off on all these planets on the way," Garrus said from just behind her. "The Alliance knows the commander's mission, so surely they understand the urgency. I'm sure someone else could investigate geth activity."

"Yeah, but we have way more experience fighting them than anyone else. Besides, it's the first ground mission I've been on for ages, so I don't care what the mission is."

Garrus sighed. Ashley felt his warm breath on her skin, and shivered. It's weird, but she'd expected turians to be cold-blooded, seeing as they had quite a reptilian image, but that wasn't the case at all. Not that she made a habit of touching Garrus, or...

Ashley felt her colour rising. All of a sudden it felt a little too warm in the Mako. She slipped out of her seat, hovering near the closed metal door, hoping to recover her composure before Garrus noticed that she'd lost it.

"Come on, Williams!" she muttered sharply to herself, trying to picture her father's proud face. "He's just a turian. A _turian_. Ignore it."

She exhaled, feeling a little more relaxed. She noticed that Garrus was now stood in front of the chair, staring at the sensor with a strange fascination.

"Still good?" she asked, moving closer, so that she could see the readings too. She might not be able to tweak the Mako or patch it up as well as he could, but she knew what a thermal sensor was and didn't want to be left out of the fun.

"Yes," he answered tersely. The odd, reverberating voice of his species seemed strangely cold, echoed within the Mako.

"_This is Shepard, do you read me? Ash? Garrus?"_

"We hear you, Commander," Ashley answered as Shepard's voice filled the small space. They could hear the distorted sounds of the wind in the background, slightly muffling her voice.

"_I felt something, when I was only a few metres from the Mako, kind of like the ground was trembling, but it was only brief. It could've been the wind, but I think you should run some scans, just in case. I'm gonna stick around here a little while longer, there's a treasure-trove of Prothean artefacts that I want to look at before I bring any back. Shepard out."_

The comm channel fell silent once more, and the pair in the Mako shared a brief nervous glance. As Shepard said, she could have been fooled by the wind shifting the snow beneath her feet, but vibrations in the ground could well mean something more sinister.

"I'll go check it out," Garrus said shortly. He grabbed his helmet and ripped open a narrow container, pulling out a handheld device which was attached to a fairly long pole. Ashley didn't know exactly what it did, but she could guess.

"You can't go out there," she said. "We can't all get separated."

"We won't be getting separated," he replied offhandedly. "If you don't trust me, Chief Williams, then you're more than welcome to go out there yourself, otherwise, let me do my job."

"What?" choked Ashley, dumbfounded. "Has Shepard said something to you?"

"This isn't the time or place. I'll be back in a few minutes."

With that, he disappeared outside, and Ashley was hit with another sharp blast of air. She slid her own helmet on, a distinctly ominous feeling growing within her. Something wasn't right about the fact the team were all splitting up, not to mention the little bombshell Garrus had just dropped on her. Had her opinions about aliens been that obvious to him? It must be that, because she was sure Shepard wouldn't have betrayed her confidence like that. Or maybe he heard somehow? Maybe Joker told him; she always had retained the suspicion that he spied using the comm system. If so, how had Garrus managed to keep this knowledge under wraps for so long? Something must have triggered his sudden change in demeanour.

Ashley shook herself mentally. She was ashamed to be getting so worked up over what he thought of her. She should be more worried about what her family would think. She wondered if her father could see, from the afterlife. Would he be ashamed if he could see the torrent of emotion within her? It might just spill out sooner or later, especially if Garrus was determined on confrontation.

At that moment, there was a deafening rumble, and the whole Mako shook. Ashley leaped onto the control panel, taking control of the vehicle in case she needed to move fast. Shepard's reading on the thermal sensor was quite faint, so she must be quite far away. Much more unsettling was the other reading on the sensor.

A huge mass of heat was detected beneath them; though most of it was so vague it must have been many metres beneath the surface of the planet. There was however, a notably hotter section which must have been much closer to them.

A light was blinking on a grid in front of her, which displayed the various sections of the Mako. Parts of the side where the door was were flashing red, though the shields were still intact.

She slammed her hand onto the lever to open the door, and it grated open with some difficulty, steam rising from the panels outside.

Garrus tumbled into the vehicle, gasping for breath. Ashley immediately shut the door once he was inside.

He made his way over to her, still out of breath. Through his narrow visor, she could see the fear in his eyes as he uttered two words: "thresher maw."

Ashley's eyes widened, but she swung round and dropped into the driver's seat. She was getting their vehicle the hell out of there.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Previously...

_Garrus tumbled into the vehicle, gasping for breath. Ashley immediately shut the door once he was inside._

_He made his way over to her, still out of breath. Through his narrow visor, she could see the fear in his eyes as he uttered two words: "thresher maw."_

_Ashley's eyes widened, but she swung round and dropped into the driver's seat. She was getting their vehicle the hell out of there._

"What are you doing?" Garrus demanded. "We can't leave Shepard behind!"

"I saw the sensor, she's nowhere near here! If we stay we'll be cooked by the thresher maw. We have to get out of here and find another way round to Shepard."

"We'll never find her again in this blizzard!"

Before Ashley could argue back, the ground quaked, and there was a resounding thud as something hit the side of the Mako. She just had time to glance back at the grid of the Mako's functioning systems, which was now completely lit up in red, as a wailing alarm filled her ears, and the vehicle shook as something lifted it from the snowy ground and catapulted it into the air.

Ashley clung to her seat, trying to keep one had on the Mako's controls. It smashed back down onto solid ground, and she groaned as her face collided with metal for the second time that day, though this time it was thankfully protected by her helmet.

She pushed herself upwards, staring around at the havoc wreaked upon the Mako's interior. Garrus was getting to his feet, and did not appear visibly injured. She turned back to the controls, though the thermal sensor had been knocked out, she wanted to at least see where they were, how much damage had been done, and if she could get the vehicle moving again.

A firm hand clamped around her arm, pulling her away from the controls. She stared at her turian ally in brief surprise, before he said hoarsely, as he had been winded by the crash: "We've got to get out of the Mako before the thresher maw reaches us. This rover vehicle isn't going anywhere, and even if the guns still work, we won't have a chance against the Thresher Maw if we can't evade its attacks."

Ashley nodded. They didn't have any choice: if they stayed in the Mako, they'd be killed, but if they went outside, they might get lost and freeze to death, or walk right into the thresher maw. Damned if they did, damned if they didn't.

Garrus grabbed hold of the heavy metal door, trying to lift it now that it was struggling open automatically. Ashley heaved with all her strength, though it didn't really compare to that of a turian.

The door groaned, falling open, and the pair dropped onto the thick snow outside. Joker hadn't been lying about Antibaar, it did remind one of stepping into a freezer completely stark naked. The icy wind was biting through Ashley's armour, into her skin, and her visor seemed to be steaming up a little at the corners.

"Stay close," Garrus murmured, as though the thresher maw might hear them. Maybe it could. They were stepping lightly, as Ashley had once heard that threshers were sensitive to movements on the surface of the planets they inhabit, and the last thing they wanted to do was alert it to their presence.

"Let's find Shepard," Ashley said, indicating to her right. She didn't necessarily know if it was the right direction, but she had a hopeful feeling, and was sure she'd glimpsed some rocky area that way. In any case, Garrus seemed to trust her. That thought gave her a pang of guilt, but she quashed it. It really wasn't the time to be dwelling on her complicated feelings and unfair past judgements.

They moved swiftly over the snow, which had luckily been compacted so much that their feet didn't sink into it. The wind was blasting ice into Ashley's face, and the snow collected on her helmet as she made her way through the thick cold wind. The frigid wind was tearing right through her armour, which was of standard thickness, but was made for resisting bullets, not blizzards. She threw a backwards glance towards Garrus.

The turian seemed to be struggling too, and had pitched his bulky upper-body forwards in an attempt to force his way through the fierce winds. She noticed with mild envy that the snow wasn't sticking to his armour, as it was hers, seeing as it was thermal armour. She wasn't sure how much better it would be at keeping him warm though.

At that moment, Garrus stopped moving, staring at Ashley. "Stop! Do you feel that?" He murmured in a low voice.

"Oh, God, no." Ashley grimaced as she felt the slight tremors beneath her feet. She readied her assault rifle, though she knew it didn't have nearly enough firepower to take down a thresher maw.

She leapt backwards as a huge set of teeth, embedded in a muscular jaw burst through the snow and rock, just metres from where they stood.

Ashley turned on heel, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her in the opposite direction. Garrus flew past her, glancing over his shoulder as the thresher hurled itself back into the ground, snaking its way beneath them.

Huge chunks of earth and snow were thrown at Ashley as the thresher emerged again. She threw herself out of the way, landing heavily on the ground. The thresher turned its grotesque face in her direction, throwing back its head and projecting litres of green acid in her direction. Ashley launched herself to her feet, tearing away and firing a couple of rounds back at the enemy. The acid hit the snow, melting it immediately and scorching the ground beneath.

She twisted round as she heard Garrus calling to her. He was several metres away, gun in hand. The thresher maw plunged back into the ground, and the turian took the opportunity to shout to her.

"Chief! Get back to the Mako, the guns might still be working!"

"What about you?" she yelled back. She wasn't in the habit of abandoning allies, whatever species they may be, and especially when she'd preached that _they'd_ be the ones doing the abandoning when it hit the fan.

"I'll try and keep it busy. Hurry!"

Ashley didn't have time to debate this. There was a deep rumble as more rock was sprayed into the air and the thresher reared its ugly head, yet again setting its malevolent sights on her. She was beginning if she had a target stuck on her back. Maybe the thresher was sexist, or racist.

She sprang towards the Mako, shouldering her gun and pushing her legs as fast as they could go without giving way. Every few seconds she threw an anxious glance over her shoulder, giving her enough time to roll out of the way of a jet of acid.

The Mako was mere metres away, though she was worried that once she reached it, she'd be trapped inside, like a turkey that just walked straight into an oven. She faltered for just a moment, but that was all the time the thresher needed to catch her off-guard.

Ashley heard a loud hiss as another stream of acid was hurled at her. She threw herself out of the way just in time, but a light spray of some of the trailing acid struck her leg, burning straight through the armour and scalding her skin.

She cried out, but hauled herself back to her feet, glancing back at the thresher. Luckily for her, it was now absorbed with trying to burn Garrus alive, or at the very least, crush him, as the turian darted back and forth, firing at the thresher whenever he got the chance. Ashley seized this opportunity and hastened to the Mako, throwing herself inside and clambering over to the grenade launcher. It was slower than the machine gun, but packed a heck of a bigger punch.

As the thresher maw burst from the ground again, the impact knocking Garrus a good few metres away from it, Ashley fired the first grenade into the thresher's slimy neck. It immediately turned its attention back to her, disappearing into the snow. Ashley knew she didn't have time to worry when and where it would next emerge, and instantly reached for the next grenade, loading it into the powerful gun.

Within moments of her having readied the grenade launcher, the thresher maw erupted from the ground, far too close to the Mako for her to aim properly. The creature was either smart or lucky, but she didn't like it either way. She fired off another round into the thresher's neck, cursing that she hadn't been able to get a better shot. She felt quite sure that it's acidic saliva was soon to corrode the Mako to such an extent that the vehicle collapsed in on itself with her trapped within.

Ashley reloaded, holding the gun steady as her dark eyes scanned the snow-swept area, ready to shoot the moment the monster's ugly head reared from the white earth. Nothing happened.

Garrus had now hauled himself back onto his feet and was stood apprehensively, his gun ready, though it would do about as much good as throwing pebbles at the thresher maw. Nevertheless, had their positions been swapped, Ashley too would have her rifle in her hands.

Then it thrust its way upwards once more. An alarm blared inside the Mako, the panel on the dashboard lit up, alerting Ashley to the fact that the rover couldn't take much more abuse from the alien menace. She turned back to the thresher just in time to see a jet of acid flying towards the turian and narrowly missing. She wasn't even sure if it had entirely missed.

The thresher whipped its hideous face round to meet her, throwing its head back, its jaws hanging open as it prepared another volley of venom. Ashley smirked, firing off a grenade down its throat. She couldn't resist staring with a morbid pleasure as the grenade exploded, cleaving the thresher's head almost completely in two.

Wasting no time, Ashley leaped out of the Mako, darting towards the prone form of her ally.

"Garrus! Damn it!"

She dropped into a crouching position beside him, laying her hands on his arms to roll him onto his back so that she could survey the extent of his injuries. It wasn't pretty, but he wasn't as banged up as she'd thought he'd be. The acid had burned through his armour and scalded the scaled skin on his right shoulder and leg.

Ashley fished out some medi-gel, smearing it onto his shoulder. The blistered skin oozed with blood, though it didn't look like any blood she'd ever seen before. At the touch of the cold liquid on his skin, Garrus stirred. He pushed himself into a sitting position.

"I'm all right, just a few burns," he said, reaching for his own medi-gel. He glanced strangely at Ashley as she continued absently to apply medi-gel to his shoulder.

Feeling self-conscious, she quickly withdrew her hand, and instead watching as he tended to his wounds himself.

He glanced up, gesturing at the burns on Ashley's calf. "You've been hit," he observed sombrely.

"Eh, don't worry about me," she shrugged, cocking an eyebrow in a gesture he could see despite the helmet obscuring most of her face. "We humans are stronger than we look, you know?"

Garrus made a disgruntled noise as he got to his feet gingerly, taking in the white blanket that surrounded them. Ashley spread some medi-gel onto her leg, but wasn't really paying attention to it, she was too irritated at his brusque attitude.

"Are you still mad at me, even though I just saved your sorry ass?"

"I guess I should be more thankful, that you would help me, human," he answered pointedly, walking with a slow but determined pace into the blizzard.

Ashley stormed after him, with a glare cold enough to rival the planet's frigid surface. "What the hell's that supposed to mean? Quit talking in riddles, and speak your mind for a change!"

He sighed, stopping in his tracks and turning to face her. Her skin prickled uncomfortably as he stared at her with an icy stare to rival her own. "I'm aware of your feelings towards turians, Chief Williams, and it surprises me that you still hold a grudge against my people for a war that took place before either of us was even born."

"Look, it's nothing personal."

"I heard what you said in the Mako," he retorted, his tone a little irate now. "You don't trust me; I think that makes it personal enough."

"What? You can't be serious! You took what I said in the Mako completely out of context."

"I think the meaning is clear enough."

"Before you get all fired up, acting like I'm some Earth-first psycho, why don't you get your facts straight?" Ashley flared angrily. The last thing she needed was the turian aggravating her and twisting her words and feelings to make her look like some xenophobe. He didn't know the first thing about her! Of all the Normandy crew, he was one of those who had never asked her a single question about herself, so how could he presume to know what she was thinking? "When I was in the Mako, I was actually thinking about what a nice guy you are, and how you're not what I expected. I also wondered if my dad was watching, and what he'd say if he thought I was buddies with a turian."

"Oh," Garrus answered stupidly, staring at her.

Ashley rolled her eyes, stalking off into the fierce wind, which was hurling snow at her face. It was like it was trying to bar her path. She wished that Shepard had been with them; she would have known just how to diffuse the situation, unlike Ashley, who didn't have a clue.

She stopped abruptly, staring about her. The whiteness was endless and unchanging. If she just strode off and allowed herself to be enveloped by the storm, she'd be screwed, and the next time she saw her friends, they'd probably have to thaw her out, or stick her in a museum so that people of the future would know what not to do when stranded on a strange planet. Maybe Garrus would ship her back to the turians so that they could all laugh.

She shook her head, wondering if the cold was affecting her sense. Scowling, Ashley wondered if she had it in her to swallow her pride, go find Garrus and find the Mako with him.

Fortunately, God was smiling on her, and Garrus appeared through the wall of snow before she had the chance to lose face.

He was doing that thing where he bowed his head, eyes downcast and waved his arms a little, shifting from one foot to the other. She'd seen him do it a billion times when apologising to Shepard or admitting she's right. Ashley and Wrex had decided it made for amusing entertainment in the cargo bay, which was otherwise uneventful. At the moment though, Ashley just felt disappointed.

"I think we should probably just forget what just happened. What do you say we just start afresh?" He offered in a tone so soft that she had trouble hearing his voice against the wind roaring through her suit.

He proffered a hand, and Ashley took it, setting aside her reservations for the moment, and shaking it firmly.

"Agreed, now let's find the Mako, get Shepard and get the hell off this planet before I freeze."

"I forgot you don't have thermal armour," the turian commented in a voice so casual that you would think they hadn't just been arguing. "It shouldn't make much difference though, seeing as I'm cold too."

"I'm not cold, I'm_ frozen_," she corrected, folding her arms tightly against her chest, though it didn't really make any difference. Still, at least she felt like she was doing something about it. "I think my eyelids are gonna fuse together soon. Too bad medi-gel doesn't keep out the cold."

"Yeah," he agreed, reaching a hand up to touch his shoulder tentatively as they set out in the direction they hoped the Mako would be.

Ashley decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be stranded with the turian. He was, after all, nicer than most guys she'd met, but then, he also had reptilian skin and mandibles on his face, so maybe comparing him to them was just an exercise in pointlessness.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Previously...

_Ashley decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be stranded with the turian. He was, after all, nicer than most guys she'd met, but then, he also had reptilian skin and mandibles on his face, so maybe comparing him to them was just an exercise in pointlessness._

They marched onwards, two small figures lost in a sea of white flecks. The wind had calmed a little but it did little to aid their vision. The snow was still falling thickly. At least now though, they could walk more or less alongside each other and move without almost being bowled over by gale-force winds.

"So, Garrus... you born on the Citadel?" Ashley ventured, feeling ridiculous even as the words came out of her mouth though. She didn't much like the feeling of animosity hanging between them though.

Garrus said nothing, and instead shot her a sceptical glance, as though he thought she was making some strange human joke. She sighed, a small smile hidden beneath her helmet.

"It's an olive branch, take it."

"Uh... okay," he said, falling into step with her, more or less, given that turians had a strange way of walking, to Ashley's eye, at least. "I wasn't, born on the Citadel. I come from Palaven, and it's certainly far hotter there than it is here. You know, I'd never even seen a human in person until I went to the Citadel, though I kept an open mind about your species."

Ashley shot him a hard glance at what seemed like a loaded comment. "Don't try and shake my hand with your right hand and then stab me in the back with your left. I was born on Earth, and I might have had a bit more of an open mind, if it wasn't for the fact that the First Contact War ruined my family's name in the military."

"How? If you don't mind me asking, Chief Williams."

"Call me Ashley," she said, comfortable enough to divulge a little information, seeing as it was just the two of them. "I guess it won't hurt to tell you, especially if it helps you understand my feelings about aliens. My granddad, he was in the First Contact War, and he held out for as long as he could, but he didn't want to see his troops starving to death, or any more civilian deaths at the hands of the turians, so he surrendered. 'The first Commander ever to submit to an alien race', that's what they said about him afterwards, and my whole family was blacklisted. We were made to feel ashamed, and I saw my granddad's and my dad's pride dragged through the mud because of it. My career has sure suffered for it too: I've _never_ been given a chance to prove myself until now."

"That's unfair for your family, but it's not the fault of the turian military, or turians in general."

"Yeah, well they were bombing civilians, and my granddad, a human, was obviously more compassionate, because he surrendered to stop it. I don't care what aliens say about humans, but we don't attack civilians, Garrus."

"Perhaps not your grandfather's regiment, but I'm sure there are others who would have done exactly the same thing to turian civilians if their positions were reversed. In any case, the turian military at the time thought the humans were a threat. It was a tragic misunderstanding."

"That's an understatement," she muttered angrily. She was hoping to make a breakthrough there, get on good terms with an alien; would've even earned brownie points with Shepard, not that that was the reason for her attempts at camaraderie.

As they trudged up a sharp hill, the wind hit them full force. As it turned out, it hadn't died down, but they had actually been walking in a long ditch, making it seem as though the wind was less ferocious. Ashley braced herself, pressing onwards, despite the numb feeling that was gradually spreading through her limbs. She pressed her teeth together to keep them still, wondering if Garrus would be spooked if he heard them chattering over the radio.

They neared a sharp rise, as the snowy plains gave way to white hills, too high and steep to climb, but good enough to provide a little shelter from the wind as they journeyed on. Ashley knew the Mako had been close to some hills before it was tossed aside, but she wasn't sure how far it had travelled when thrown.

Garrus interrupted her negative thoughts with his own attempt at friendly conversation. "Chief Williams... Ashley, earlier on, you said that you were concerned that your father was 'watching', I'm just curious, but what did you mean by that?"

"Watching from heaven," she replied simply. Glancing back at his narrowed eyes, she continued. "You know: the afterlife. Don't turians have a religion?"

"Not one that involves an afterlife, as far as I know. For us, it's more about improving ourselves in life than thinking about what happens after we're dead; though I guess some turians follow asari or human religions, which believe in some sort of purpose after death."

"Maybe you and me should talk about God some time," she grinned, half-joking. She didn't exactly make a habit of preaching, but if he was interested, she'd be more than happy to share. "I'm pretty sure He wouldn't want aliens to be in the dark about creation, seeing as I guess He made you guys too."

"Your god created turians?" he asked sceptically.

"He made _everything_. But this isn't the time for a theology lesson."

A little further on, Ashley halted, and lowered herself onto a rock with her arms folded, and her chin resting on her chest. She pressed her eyes shut, trying to fight the overwhelming urge to just stay put. She knew that if she stopped, she'd be far more likely to freeze, but she couldn't force her limbs to move. They were so cold she felt as though they'd snap off if she moved them. Ashley remained completely still, except for the fierce shivering that made her look as if she was having convulsions.

"What's wrong? Why are you stopping?" asked Garrus from somewhere above her. She couldn't feel her feet. Or her backside. She vaguely wished she'd dusted the snow from the rock before sitting down, but it didn't really matter, seeing as she was going to be an ice sculpture before long anyway. She begrudged the turian his thermal armour.

"I'm just tired. Cold and tired. I'd kill to just rest my eyes for a few minutes."

"No, being cold means being dead," he argued impatiently. Ashley wondered if he was flapping his arms again, but as it turned out, her eyelids did seem to have fused together, so she didn't open her eyes. "If you stop, you'll just make things worse. We need to keep moving."

"A couple of minutes won't hurt..."

"Yes it _will_."

With that, he grabbed her firmly under the arms and hauled her to her feet, holding her steady for a moment until she opened her heavy eyes. She stared at him with a resentment that she didn't really feel. It was the cold, and the fact he'd just manhandled her like she was a sack of potatoes.

He didn't seem to care much though, as he gazed around them, though there wasn't really anything to look at, except the overwhelming sheet of white that had covered everything, and the faint lilac light of the sun as it filtered through.

"The Prothean ruin that Shepard went to investigate was near a mass of hills just like these. When I checked the map in the Mako, the terrain where we were looked pretty even and those might have been the only hills in the area. If we follow them, they might take us to the Mako, providing the thresher maw didn't throw it too far from its original location."

"I think you're clutching at straws."

"Well, it's our only option at the moment, seeing as our radios are out and we can't find Commander Shepard," he said with conviction. Ashley doubted she'd ever heard him sound so optimistic. Usually he just complained, a lot.

They continued to shadow the hills, though Ashley was beginning to think they were only there to act as a wind tunnel. Given the fact that there might be millions of snowy hills on this planet, she didn't have high hopes for Garrus' plan, but she followed him all the same. It wasn't like she'd had any bright ideas within the last few hours; all she had was frostbite and goosebumps.

The scenery wasn't changing, though she hadn't expected it to. Antibaar was a monotonous planet, except for the threat of pneumonia, or hypothermia, or whatever other illness could be caught through exposure to such freezing temperatures.

A sharp gust of wind blasted into Garrus, propelling the heavy turian backwards into Ashley, knocking the wind out of her. She unstuck her arms, and shoved him forwards, before clamping them back into a folded position.

"Sorry," he said, stopping, as though this was the perfect place to stop and have a chat. "The wind is much worse than we realised, and I can't see a damn thing."

"I swear I'm getting frostbite."

"Where?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Everywhere! My whole freakin' body is frozen! I'd say we should find a cave, light a fire and wait the blizzard out, but I guess this dumb planet doesn't work like Earth does. It's terminally snowy here."

"I don't know, it can't snow permanently, though I suppose it could do it for weeks at a time, and we won't last that long if we try and wait it out."

"We won't do much better if we walk across the whole planet," Ashley replied, taking advantage of his doubts. "I say we just continue until we find some kinda cave, wait there, and hope Shepard's done the same. She's a smart woman, she probably isn't doing something this stupid. Call me a pessimist, but the odds are next to nothing that we'll run into her before we freeze to death."

"I see your point," Garrus said grudgingly. He hated it when people proved him wrong, especially when it became a recurring theme. Ashley usually shared his pain in this matter, though not at the moment. "We'll follow your plan instead. You lead the way."

Ashley nodded, edging past him, and unwrapping her arms so that she could push herself along with the aid of the rock walls. Snow spattered her visor, though it least the condensation wasn't too much of a problem. Still, she was almost blinded, and was praying that the hill didn't lead them straight into the geth. Even if they did manage to see the synthetics, their bullets were probably frozen in their guns, so they'd have to bludgeon the machines to death. That could still be fun, though.

Drifting out of wild imaginings, her hand slid into a narrow crack in the wall. She could barely see far into the darkness within, but it seemed like the shadowy passage would be the closest thing they'd get to a cave.

She indicated to the turian, who replied with the most cynical stare imaginable. She didn't care, this was shelter, and if he wanted to stay out to freeze, he was welcome to.

Ashley felt along the wall, pressing into the crack. Due to her slender body, and the fact that she wasn't wearing chunky armour, it was quite easy for her to slip through the narrow gap. She paused, casting a furtive glance at Garrus as he edged through the crack. Within moments, the bulkiest part of his armour seemed to have become lodged between the rocks. He struggled, trying to push himself through sideways, but was having little luck. Under different circumstances, Ashley would have laughed at him, and was pretty sure that Wrex, and probably Tali would have joined her in doing so. It was Garrus' own fault: if he wasn't such a smart-ass, people wouldn't be so quick to laugh at him when he made an arse out of himself.

After receiving a very angry glare from the turian, Ashley grabbed his hand (the one that was currently inside the cave) in both of her own, and pulled with all her strength. She heaved, her visor steaming up with the heat that such exertion was stirring in her. She thought she was on the verge of dislocating his arm when she finally managed to drag the turian into the cave, scraping the front of his armour and grazing his wounded shoulder. He let out a string of expletives that would make a krogan blush.

Ashley frowned. Getting him out of the cave again would be a bitch. With any luck, they'd freeze to death before that happened.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Previously...

_After receiving a very angry glare from the turian, Ashley grabbed his hand (the one that was currently inside the cave) in both of her own, and pulled with all her strength. She heaved, her visor steaming up with the heat that such exertion was stirring in her. She thought she was on the verge of dislocating his arm when she finally managed to drag the turian into the cave, scraping the front of his armour and grazing his wounded shoulder. He let out a string of expletives that would make a krogan blush._

_Ashley frowned. Getting him out of the cave again would be a bitch. With any luck, they'd freeze to death before that happened. _

She led the way down a brief tunnel into a hollow space that was high enough for them to stand, and just wide enough for them to sit side by side and stretch their legs. A good enough shelter, as it offered protection from the elements, and was a little warmer than outside. Probably not the ideal holiday spot for claustrophobics though.

"Guess there's no chance of a fire, huh?" Ashley grinned, wiping the outside of her visor, though it did nothing to remove the steam. She'd just have to wait for the suit to work its magic.

"Not unless you have something easily flammable on you?"

"Only my hair," Ashley said, patting the side of her helmet, "but I kinda want to hold onto that. Besides, I think it'd burn up pretty quickly."

"Maybe we should leave that as a last resort," he replied in a mildly humorous tone. "You have anything else?"

Ashley shook her head. She sat with her back to the chilly wall, her legs tucked into her body and her arms wrapped around her knees. She was only a few steps away from becoming a human ball. She turned to Garrus, who was sat a little further along beside her, stretched out as if it was a day on the beach.

"I guess this cold might not be so bad for you, seeing as you're like, a lizard."

Garrus stared at her as though he thought she couldn't be serious. "Huh... actually, turians don't like the cold, Chief."

That killed any hopes of conversation for a while, and they sat side by side in silence for some time. The burn on Ashley's leg was stinging, as though it was on fire while the rest of her was ice, but she was very relieved to have had plenty of medi-gel with her. It was providing a thin barrier and slightly numbing the pain. Or maybe that was the cold.

She grew slightly uncomfortable with the silence, and her mind drifted to an amusing rumour she heard the previous week. She decided the tell Garrus, partly to see his reaction.

"You know, scuttlebutt says that you and Tali have a thing going."

"A 'thing'?" he repeated, clearly confused.

Ashley grinned, feeling curious. "You know, a relationship. I heard romance is brewing."

"Who told you that?" Garrus asked sharply, turning to face her, and groaning a little as the movement sent spasms of pain through his wounded shoulder. She felt that his reaction seemed mighty guilty, either that or he was just annoyed.

"Joker," Ashley replied, shamelessly selling the pilot out. "He spies on us, you know. He hasn't heard anything damning about you and Tali though, so I think he's just speculating."

"Well he's wrong," he scoffed, seeming to relax. "I don't understand how he could think that there's anything between me and Tali. We just argue all the time, about everything. And she's always hovering over my shoulder, correcting my _mistakes_, especially when I'm working on the Mako. I don't dislike her, though."

That was certainly true. The pair argued incessantly. Sometimes they could get quite catty with each other, making snide comments here and there, but other times it was just childish things, trying to get one over the over. Having two over-confident tech experts in a confined space seemed to mean tension. That said, Garrus also seemed to be permanently on the wrong side of Wrex, and had clashed with Ashley and Shepard often enough. The only squad members he hadn't argued with were Kaiden and Liara, but Kaiden was too much of a 'nice guy' to say anything provocative to the turian. And Liara, she was just a big blue pushover.

"I think I know why he'd think there's something going on if he keeps hearing you two arguing about stupid things and trying to get one over each other. That's _exactly_ what human kids do, when they have a crush."

He gave her a strange look, as if he thought she was tricking him. "That must be something unique to humans, because turians don't express their romantic interests in that way. In any case, I don't feel that way about Tali, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't see me that way either."

"So turians _do_ have romantic feelings, then?" she wondered if the Normandy crew, not to mention her family, would have a collective aneurism if they knew she was 'making nice' to a turian and learning about his culture, especially _this_ aspect of his culture. Even she felt uncomfortable as the words were coming out of her mouth, but she couldn't help it. "I thought it was just humans and asari that feel love, or, you know, that sort of thing."

"Turians enjoy the companionship of others, that's not just unique to humans. In fact, a lot of emotions that humans feel, we do too. Why do you think you see so many turians and humans in Chora's Den?"

"Because the galaxy's full of perverts?" she grinned, earning an amused noise from the turian.

"Maybe, but our species aren't as dissimilar as you think, Chief Williams. Ashley. What makes us different, I think – other than appearance – is our culture and values."

"I guess you're right, in a way. Still, you don't see many turians and humans getting together, do you?" her mouth burned as she spoke, the colour rising in her face. Part of her wanted to steer the conversation in a direction that would force her to confront her feelings, and the other part wanted her to shut up or make small talk about boring, Liara-type subjects instead. "Other than asari, none of the Citadel species, including humans, are in inter-racial relationships, are they? You don't see krogan hooking up with salarians, or turians getting together with... humans."

"I guess not, but it's not unheard of. I've seen a lot while I've been with C-Sec. There was a human woman before who was working in Chora's Den, who came to C-Sec asking for help because a turian was sexually harassing her. And Tali said that the turian assassin who met her in the wards tried to become more familiar than she wanted."

"Huh. I didn't know that. Not the Tali thing, the other one, about the girl in Chora's Den. It's mainly asari working there, but I do remember seeing a human barmaid. Funny, I never thought a turian – or any other species – would be attracted to a human."

"It's not that surprising," Garrus said in a very matter-of-factly tone. "Human women look quite similar to asari, and most races have been involved in relationships with asari for years, so on a superficial level, it doesn't seem that odd that they might be attracted to human women too. What I think would be more odd, is if a human was attracted to another species. Your species is so new to the Citadel that they haven't branched out very far in that way, though I have seen asari and humans in relationships."

"Like Shepard and T'Soni," Ashley mused, her mind drifting to the 'couple of the month'.

"They're in a relationship?"

"Geez, have you been living under a rock? _Everyone_ on the ship knows about that, they just don't know we know... you know? I think you're right though, most humans would probably think it was weird for a human to have a crush on an alien. If my family thought I did... uh, I don't want to think about what they'd say."

"Maybe they wouldn't be pleased, but surely they'd come round to the idea if they saw that you were happy," he said, though he knew nothing of what she was actually getting at.

"That's the thing, I don't know if they'd be willing to see it. My youngest sister, Sarah, was pretty shocked when I told her about aliens on the Normandy, especially you. Imagine how she'll react when I tell her I have a crush on you."

Ashley gagged almost as soon as the words passed through her lips. Sweat broke out on her face as she watched Garrus, trying to interpret his reaction. It wasn't promising. The moment she'd said it, he'd turned away and begun staring intently at the cave wall. She hadn't meant to say anything like that, though part of her had known something like this would have to happen if she continued to pursue the topic. The damage had been done, and her own reaction had smothered all chances of pretending she'd been joking. She'd never been all that good at covering up her feelings, and it was coming back to bite her in the arse once more.

Ashley attempted a little damage control, but her words came out like mush. "Not that I... uh, I mean... I don't..."

He said nothing, and continued to stare expressionlessly at the wall, as if it might show him an escape plan if he looked at it for long enough. The silence was almost suffocating. Ashley felt angry and humiliated all at once. If she'd been the crying type, she would've been in floods by now. She was on the verge of thinking Garrus had frozen in position, when he finally turned to her, as though he was about to say something, but instead he just stared at her with a fathomless emotion in his eyes.

"Well, this is awkward. Geez, I should really learn when to shut up. Sarah would never let me live it down if she knew what I'd just said... what would Dad say? Damn. Uh, just ignore what I said... yeah, it was probably just the cold, affecting my brain, making me say things to embarrass myself..."

Ashley gave a quick laugh, hoping to ease the tension, but it just sounded like a strange sneeze. She got up abruptly, the overwhelming heat that was rising on her skin made her almost long for the chill weather outside. She headed for the cave mouth, staring out into the screen of white. The air was still thick with snow, but it had taken on a violet-blue tinge, to suggest that night was drawing closer. She stared out furiously, wanting to kick herself for saying something so foolish, as though Garrus was going to turn around and say 'me too'. He had never indication of harbouring feelings for her, and she had shown nothing but contempt for all beings not of Earth, so how was he meant to have known her blathering in the cave was hinting towards the feelings that had slipped out.

She sent up a silent prayer that God would spare her pride and that news of her embarrassing admission would not get back to the Normandy. Joker would have a field day if he found out, and probably eavesdrop on her all the time, from her reading private vid-mail from her family to her visiting the loo.

Ashley returned to the cave, as though to tell Garrus that it was still snowy, but that night was drawing close, but before she had a chance to speak, she saw that he had his eyes closed. It suggested that he was either asleep, or that he was trying to avoid talking to her by feigning sleep. Either one was good to her at that moment. He didn't appear to be dead, though perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing if it meant no one would ever hear about events in the cave. And if she ate him, she might last longer, stranded on that God-forsaken planet. She couldn't imagine turians made for the most palatable dish though.

Deciding to keep watch, Ashley settled against the wall, as far away from the turian as she could manage. It seemed an immense task just keeping her eyes open, though this time it wasn't from the cold, but just due to exhaustion.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Previously...

_Ashley returned to the cave, as though to tell Garrus that it was still snowy and that night was drawing close, but before she had a chance to speak, she saw that he had his eyes closed. It suggested that he was either asleep, or that he was trying to avoid talking to her by feigning sleep. Either one was good to her at that moment. He didn't appear to be dead, though perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing if it meant no one would ever hear about events in the cave. And if she ate him, she might last longer, stranded on that God-forsaken planet. She couldn't imagine turians made for the most palatable dish though. _

_Deciding to keep watch, Ashley settled against the wall, as far away from the turian as she could manage. It seemed an immense task just keeping her eyes open, though this time it wasn't from the cold, but just due to exhaustion. _

When she woke up, some time later, she felt stiff and uncomfortable. The stone floor of a cave didn't make the most comfortable bed, even when compared to the tiny sleeper pods on the Normandy.

She pushed herself up, seeing Garrus stood, staring silently down the corridor at the narrow crack where snow was still visible. She sat there for a second, unsure of what to say. After a minute or two, she decided to get up, feeling a little stiff, and headed for the exit. She glanced out, and seeing the storm had died down a little, just windy without snowfall, she turned back to Garrus.

"Looks like the weather's as good as it's ever going to be. So I guess... uh, we should set out for the Mako, now that we might be able to see a little better?"

He nodded and silently followed her. She waited as he struggled through the gap in the wall, offering no help this time. After her admission last night, and the ensuing tension, physical contact was a big no-no.

It didn't take him too long to force his way through, and follow her, not showing any signs of embarrassment after his little predicament.

Ashley felt annoyed that she had allowed herself to be lulled into a false sense of security by his words the previous night. How had she been so daft as to think he was trying to give her some signal about his feelings? He 'd been talking objectively the whole time, and now all Ashley had done was make a fool out of herself and done irreparable damage to any friendship she could have had with Garrus. It might be too uncomfortable for them to go on missions together now, and Shepard would want to know why. The truth would inevitably get out. Ashley wasn't sure if she could live with the humiliation and the taunts she would receive after being rejected by a turian. Earth-first believers would burn her at the stake, not that she really cared about their opinions. She was more concerned about what would happen if and when her sisters found out.

It had taken her by surprise, her confession. She hadn't even been fully aware her feelings for the turian, they'd just ambushed her. It didn't even seem possible to formulate an explanation for it in her mind, but where she didn't have the words, she knew poetry did, and thanks to her father's incredible memory bank of literature, she knew just the poem to sum it up: 'true love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked'. The guy knew what he was talking about, and Ashley felt as though that had happened to her. It was no use denying that that is what she felt for the damn turian.

Away in the distance, like a shining beacon of hope, ready to pull Ashley from her despairing thoughts and smouldering fury, was a rectangular metal shape.

"Is that...? Look, over there! Can you see that weird blob? I think it's the Mako, or at least, I _really _hope it is."

They headed across the snowy plains, almost running towards the shape, though it was more like an agitated trudge, due to the thick snow, which was mostly knee-deep, but in some of it Ashley was swamped almost up to her waist. The dark shape comes into focus, and they saw that it was indeed the Mako.

Momentarily forgetting her discomfort as it was washed over by relief, Ashley briefly grinned at Garrus and turned determinedly towards the Mako. However, he placed a hand on her arm and to stop her. Shocked, she turned back to face him, embarrassment, annoyance and awkwardness rushing back to her.

He let go immediately and glanced away, as though he wasn't sure why he'd just grabbed her. Ashley stared at him, suspense written in her dark eyes as she watched his eyes, the only thing she could see through his narrow visor. Garrus sighed and returned her intense stare. He looked as though it was taking all his willpower to try and force his mouth to form words.

"What you said earlier, in the cave..."

Ashley was on edge. It was the first thing he'd said to her since she'd blurted out her feelings, and she wondered if she should just tell him to forget about it before he embarrassed her further and made himself feel uncomfortable in the process. However, she decided to wait, hold her breath and ride out the storm, praying that he wouldn't be too freaked out by what she'd revealed and therefore accidentally hint to people on the Normandy at what had actually happened. If he was going to yell, or lose his temper, she would just grit her teeth and bear it.

"I just wanted to know... what... well... would it really matter so much to you, what other people think?"

Ashley was very puzzled. She had expected some uncomfortable rejection speech from him, or some decision to just forget it, just like they'd agreed to forget their previous misunderstandings. She'd even expected him to say that they should avoid each other and not mention the matter again, anything but what he had just said, which seemed almost like a proposition instead of a rebuff.

"I..." Ashley began, rapidly deciding that this might be her only chance to prevent the wildfire from becoming unstoppable. She'd nip it in the bud. "I guess it would matter a hell of a lot less if I was in a relationship, cause then it'd be worth it, even if I did have to deal with other people's issues. But nobody wants to be the girl whose crush rejects her and everyone hears about it. It's humiliating. So, don't tell anyone, okay? I don't think my pride could take it."

She exhaled and waited, hoping for a vow of silence from Garrus. Instead he just stared at the Mako for a little while. Ashley shivered, partly because she was still cold, and partly because the experience was so weird. She was growing a little impatient though, at his unresponsiveness. He wasn't the only one who found the situation difficult.

Finally, he started to speak, but it was slow, as though he was considering the weight of every single word as he said it. "I don't think the Normandy crew would have much of a problem with anything like that. They seem quite accepting. Even Dr. T'Soni, who they didn't trust at first, they accept now, and don't mock her relationship with Commander Shepard. Or at least, I've never heard them say it. I've never heard them say anything about it, but maybe they wouldn't discuss it in front of me because I'm not human either."

"They don't mock it, but everyone knows Shepard is like a walking banner advertising good race-relations with aliens. I don't think they'd expect it from me."

"Perhaps it would make such an admission from you look even more meaningful, if it's unexpected."

"It's my family; I don't want them to be disappointed in me," she sighed softly, staring up at him questioningly. As kind and understanding as he was at that moment, she didn't expect that he'd stick around if people started hurling abuse or dirty looks, or heavier things.

"You won't know unless you find out. They might surprise you," he said, perhaps not realising just how clichéd that line was to a human.

"Sometimes I wonder if Sarah already knows. She's always joking about me running off with crew-members or aliens or whatever. She's always been pretty intuitive, but I'm not sure even she'll see this coming. Wait..."

Something occurred to her in that moment. Garrus watching her as if her words were a lifeline, and every little suggestion he had made seemed to indicate his acceptance of the whole situation. It seemed illogical to her that he would want her to tell people how she felt, seeing as surely he'd want as few people as possible to know he'd just rejected her. Not that he had, _yet_.

"You're not saying I should just admit everything to everyone, are you?" Ashley asked hotly. "'Cause I don't see what good that'll do me."

"No... I'm not. I'm saying... maybe we should _both_ tell people about this," he said in a tone of voice that suggested he was struggling to just say what he thought outright.

"_Why?_"

"Because," he began, sounding just as impatient, awkward and angry as she had been. "Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing if we..."

His words led her mind rapidly in the direction that maybe he was trying to subtly tell her how he felt, as opposed to just blurting it out like she had. He decided to grab onto this idea with both hands, even though it could land her in much hotter water than she was already in. "Seriously? Damn, I didn't see that coming... I thought you were gonna tell me to go to hell, only a little more politely, of course."

"So, what do you think?" Garrus asked, sounding a little more convinced now. "Could you ignore what other people think, and tell your family the truth?"

"Could _you_? I don't know a lot about turians, but I'm pretty sure your folks wouldn't give you a medal for hooking up with a human."

Garrus shrugged, seeming nonchalant already. Ashley was surprised at how fast he was sailing through the emotional spectrum. In a couple of minutes he might be laughing hysterically, or sobbing wildly, while she was still dragging herself out of the shame and annoyance from the previous evening.

"Maybe not, but my father already isn't proud of the choices I've made in life. He's always thought I'm too rash. Honestly, I don't care. If you want to give it a go, so do I."

"You make it sound like trying a new cereal or something. This is a big deal, and people might get pretty vocal about it. And there's other stuff too."

"I'm ready for it."

"Damn, we're really gonna do this, aren't we? This is surreal. I think I'm having an out-of-body experience. I don't know, but I feel weird. But I don't feel cold, that's a good sign, right? Unless my whole body's gone numb. That wouldn't be so good... phew..."

She sighed, shivering and giving a short nervous laugh. She could hardly believe that that exchange had just happened. The fact that she'd told the turian she had feelings for him had been a weird enough experience, but to have him return the feelings, well that sent to weirdness into overdrive.

Garrus tentatively reached out, laying a hand on her upper arm with the same apprehensive air as someone who is about to touch a poisonous snake. His fingers settled uneasily on the surface of her armour, and the touch was so light she could barely feel it. Despite the tense atmosphere, she couldn't help but laugh at the fact that two out-going, opinionated people would be acting so scared.

Ashley laughed, feeling like a barrier was falling as she warmed to the nervous touch of another species. She still could barely believe that she felt attracted to a turian, and she still couldn't quite explain why she was. "Relax, I don't bite. Usually."

"Hey! Are you two gonna stand there yakking all day long, or are you waiting for the next storm?"

They both jumped at the sound of Shepard's strong voice floating across the snow hills to them, and Garrus quickly withdrew his hand. It fell limply to his side, and Ashley took a conscious step away from him. They exchanged an uneasy glance as they head for the Mako. They both knew that they would have to bite the bullet and tell people at some point, but neither were ready for that, when they had only begun such a strange excursion from the social norm themselves, and didn't want others tainting their delicate view of it before it was properly formed.

They traipsed over the heavy snow until they reached the hulking mass of the Mako, which stuck out from its white surroundings quite obviously without the blizzard to obscure their vision. The Mako was partially scorched and melted, especially on the side where the door and the main gun turret were.

Once they were inside though, helmets removed for the first time in hours, they saw that things had been cleared up a little. There were no more flashing lights and neurotic sirens, and at least the main functions of the Mako were active now, even if smaller things were still out. It wasn't that much of a surprise though, seeing as Shepard was a miracle-tech-expert, even if she still didn't compare to Tali.

"Took you guys long enough," she grinned, but the humour fell from her face as she observed the wounds her party had suffered in her absence. "Shit! What happened to you? And the Mako? It looked like crap when I found it."

"We were attacked by a thresher maw, and we kinda jumped ship after the Mako was thrown over here. Then we couldn't find our way back so we waited the storm out in a cave we found."

"What about you, Commander?" Garrus asked, resuming his act of polite interest in Ashley's words and nothing more. "We lost track of you when the thresher maw hit us. We thought you were lost in the storm too."

"I went out prepared." She gestured at a host of gadgets which she's ditched in the passenger section of the Mako. "Somehow, I don't think there'll be any geth hunting for us in the near future. The Mako's too badly beat up, and we're all feeling pretty rough. Let's head back to the Normandy."

...

**Author's notes: This is NOT the end, even if it might seem like it. Please review, and I'll update soon as I can. That kind of sounds like a bribe, but it's not!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's notes: Yeah, so... this is the next chapter. Hope you like it. I'm going to Paris with my two best friends on 13****th**** Feb!! Arghh, it took so long for me and my friends to sort this out due to all the crap, but now it's happening: in three chuffing weeks! THREE!!! I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself, I'm just so excited^^ **

**...**

CHAPTER 6

Previously...

"_We were attacked by a thresher maw, and we kinda jumped ship after the Mako was thrown over here. Then we couldn't find our way back so we waited the storm out in a cave we found."_

"_What about you, Commander?" Garrus asked, resuming his act of polite interest in Ashley's words and nothing more. "We lost track of you when the thresher maw hit us. We thought you were lost in the storm too."_

"_I went out prepared." She gestured at a host of gadgets which she's ditched in the passenger section of the Mako. "Somehow, I don't think there'll be any geth hunting for us in the near future. The Mako's too badly beat up, and we're all feeling pretty rough. Let's head back to the Normandy."_

From the moment Ashley and Garrus set foot in the Mako, they barely said two words to each other, and what they did say was so boring it could have put an elcor politician to sleep.

Back on the Normandy, Dr. Chakwas looked over their wounds, applying some treatment, giving them some meds for the pain, and more medi-gel, to seal the wounds up from infection until they healed.

Ashley had been musing over the situation between her and Garrus, or lack of. It had been all fine and well before, when they had been alone, and in the spur of the moment, ready to embrace an inter-species relationship, spurn peoples' scorn and defeat the odds, like they'd just walked out of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice or something. Now they were back on the Normandy though, they maintained a courteous relationship and nothing ever hinted that they were more than acquaintances.

Frustrations were burning in Ashley's mind. She was about to head up to the mess, where the rest of the squad was, even Tali, who joined them so that she didn't feel lonely, and not because she wanted to eat with them. Ashley had just been watching her mail from home. Her sisters always sent her such different messages, but they all wished her well, wanted to know her news – in other words, gossip – and told her to look out for herself. They'd been particularly concerned for her since Eden Prime, where her whole unit was wiped out. None of them had mentioned the aliens. That was a good sign. Not all of her family held such strong views as she did in regards to aliens, but she couldn't help but feel worried about their opinion when they found out.

That was if there would ever be anything to find out. Ashley was too hungry to debate the pros and cons of telling people she wanted to hook up with a turian.

She took the abominably slow lift up to the mess, grabbed some of the delightful food, which was especially processed to give the nutrients and take away the flavour. She took the seat which was opposite Garrus, and next to Kaiden. She poked at the unappetising pile of blandness in front of her, despite being hungry. Her thoughts were weighing heavily on her mind. Next to her, Kaiden was eating ravenously. Clearly, heartbreak hadn't stayed his appetite. Wrex was eating his food slowly whilst Tali maintained a one-sided conversation with him about the quarian flotilla, and Shepard and Liara were talking quietly as they sat side by side, making goo-goo eyes at each other. Ashley thought she might retch. Finally, her gaze fell on Garrus. To her surprise, and mild amusement, his behaviour was almost mimicking her own, as he sat there nervously prodding his food as though it was alive. In some respects, he wasn't so different to her, sat there lost in thoughts that drowned any urge to eat, but at the same time, the differences were glaringly obvious. Even the food he ate was different, seeing as many turians couldn't eat the same food as other species (except quarians) because it would either do them no benefit, or could kill them. Garrus had opted against trying human food for this reason, but it just seemed to Ashley like another obstacle in a very long race.

Her thoughts boiled over. She couldn't sit there anymore, doubting things. She was a woman of action, and sitting patiently was not her preference. She would meet this head on, and deal with the fallout later.

"Enough is enough, Garrus," she said abruptly, shoving her chair back and rising to her feet. Everyone else at the table was looking at her with interest, except Shepard, to whom it seemed that even at dinner-time, her crew managed to find arguments with each other, and Garrus, who looked to be on the verge of a panic attack.

Ashley ignored his discomfort at her attempt to publicly air their relationship, and pressed on. She drew back from the table, and moved round to the awkward turian, who was fortunately seated at the end. She placed her palms on the table, leaning forward on them, almost like she was the Commander, about to give a pep-talk to her troops, but this was far from it. Shepard had an expression on her face like she thought Ashley was going to hit Garrus for no apparent reason.

"Okay," she started, faltering now that she had to find the appropriate words to explain to them. She was sure there weren't any poems about forming relationships with turians that she could recite. "Well, you guys know that me and Garrus-" at this point she placed a hand on his shoulder for emphasis "-were separated from Shepard on Antibaar. Well, we got to talking, and it turns out, we get on pretty well..."

She stopped. They were all staring at her like she was crazy. Fools, why couldn't they just read her mind? Liara was giving her such a simpering look that she wanted to slap her in the blue face, but she reminded herself that it wasn't the time to take her anger out on the asari when it wasn't her fault. She was quite sure that Wrex was smirking. Krogan are hard to read, but if he wasn't smirking, then he had wind, she was sure of it. Ashley tried to continue, but the words died in her throat. She wanted to just sit down and pretend she'd never said anything, but it was too late. If she did that, it would only heighten the interest of the other squad members, and Joker, who was probably listening, might just wet himself out of excitement.

Thankfully, Garrus got to his feet, though Ashley sensed that he was less than pleased at having to step in and try to wade through the mess she'd just created. She wasn't hugely comforted though, seeing as the turian was hardly known for his charisma.

"Chief Williams and I... we've decided that race isn't important when it comes to forming friendships or relationships, and that there is enough that unites us to form a basis for..."

She cocked an eyebrow at Garrus' treacle-speech. Feeling that he was doing more bad than good with his inane rambling, she shut her eyes, and forced herself to blurt out the feelings that had gotten her into the situation in the first place.

"Me and Garrus are an item now. A couple. Together," while her eyes were still shut, she tried to rack her brain from some quote that would sum the whole affair up perfectly, but her mind was a vacuum.

She opened her eyes, deliberately, searching Garrus' face before she turned to look at her friends. His gaze was soft and encouraging, as though he respected the courage it had taken for such a seemingly fearless woman to admit her innermost feelings to her crewmates. It was remarkable the emotion that turians could convey through their eyes, considering how inexpressive most of the rest of their faces are. Her mouth curved into a small smile for a fraction of a second, before she remembered that the eyes of the whole squad were on them. Garrus kept watching her, as though he didn't want to acknowledge the avid observers, but Ashley wasn't going to do the same. She just wanted to meet whatever issues they had, and then get on with it. Seeing as Shepard was present, things would probably stay quite amicable.

Ashley forced her eyes towards them, and immediately the shock – and amusement – on their faces, was evident. Kaiden looked as though someone had just told him his own leg was actually a hockey stick; Wrex held a fathomless expression which seemed caught between disapproval and amusement; Tali's face was a lost cause; Shepard seemed intrigued and pleased, if not outright delighted that her alien-loving attitude seemed to be rubbing off on the most unlikely people; and Liara was observing them like they were an experiment in social behaviour.

It was she who spoke first.

"I might sound foolish when I say this," Liara began. Ashley had to school her face not to register any trace of a grimace, because she knew full well that when the asari started with 'I may sound foolish', it meant that she _would_ indeed say something very daft. "But I hadn't realised that humans and turians participated in intimate relationships with each other, because of both species inability to meld with others, as my people do, it would mean that any relationship between humans and turians couldn't really transcend a bond of friendship."

Kaiden took a sharp intake of breath as Liara finished her little evaluation with a good-natured expression on her face that Ashley didn't trust. He felt certain that the Gunnery-Chief was about to blow the asari to pieces with a cleverly concealed weapon.

"Right, so you're saying that we can't have a relationship because we can't brain probe people? And that any relationship _we_ have _couldn't_ _possibly_ be as spiritual as what you and the Commander have?"

"No, that isn't what I-"

"Bite me," Ashley returned shortly. She stared around the rest of the group, her expression suggesting that they should have a go if they dared.

As it happened, they did dare. Tali was up next, whose hidden features meant that her reaction had been indiscernible. "Forgive me for asking, Chief Williams, but I hadn't noticed any kind of relationship between you before this ground mission. Did you notice anything, Wrex? You spent more time in the cargo bay than I did."

The krogan didn't seem especially pleased at having been dragged into the discussion by the quarian, but he answered anyway. "I thought Williams felt the same way about Vakarian as I do, but I guess I was wrong, 'cause I sure as hell don't wanna lick his-"

"You know, I think it's great that two are making a go of things," Shepard beamed, neatly skating over the end of Wrex's comment which was now fixed in everyone's imagination. The air seemed to ripple with a collective shudder. Shepard ignored it and continued her praise. "I don't see what difference it should make that you are two different species, so long as you care about each other and want to make it work."

Ashley and Garrus exchanged a glance, as did most of the rest of the group, as everyone knew about Shepard and Liara, even if she didn't know they knew. She was behaving like Ashley and Garrus were the first alien-human couple to be seen aboard the Normandy, which of course wasn't true. The squad's surprise was regarding other details.

"Well, now you know," Ashley said, exhaling with relief to have it out in the open. "I really just had to get it off my chest, 'cause all this walking on eggshells was hurting my feet."

She grinned at Garrus and left, still unsure of the degree of affection she should exhibit with him, especially publicly, seeing as they had only just told the others. She'd broach the issue to him later.

As it happened, Kaiden tailed her to the lift, under the pretence that he had to go to his locker.

"What's going on, LT?" she asked with a rueful smile. "I don't get the feeling you're coming down here to admire the view."

"Not exactly," he said, as usual trying to pick his words tactfully. "It just seems strange, I guess, you and Garrus. I didn't want to say anything in the mess, but... it doesn't seem like you. I never took for the kind of woman to experiment with other species, especially ones that look so different, when you didn't seem to trust them."

Ashley laughed, punching him lightly on the arm. "You worried about me? That's cute, real cute, but seriously, there's no problem. I've felt like this for a little while now, and I didn't understand it at first either, 'cause he's an alien – a weird, lizard alien – but 'love looks with the heart and not with the mind, therefore is wing'd cupid painted blind'. I think that sums it up pretty well."

"Seems like everyone is getting together on this ship," he mumbled.

"Aww, don't worry LT, there's still plenty of prospective partners left for you... how about Joker, or Tali? Maybe Adams? Chakwas? Wrex?"

"I think I'll take my chances alone," he smiled, as the doors opened and the Gunnery-Chief stepped out. "But now I have to ride the elevator all the way back up to the mess."

Ashley snickered at him. He was as easy to see through as she was. They wore their emotions on their faces, but didn't that sum up most humans? It could be an asari thing too, and salarian. It occurred to her that she'd have a lot to learn about turians if her relationship was going to work, but she was pretty sure that Garrus would help her with that, just like she'd have to acquaint him with some well known human customs.

She returned to the guns that she was meant to be checking before they moved on towards Virmire; her thoughts dwelling on the mail she would be sending back home.

...


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's notes: So, it's been forever! Anyone who's read _anything_ by me knows i'm as slack as anything when it comes to updates, so... *cheesy grin* a big sorry all round! i have wireless now so _hopefully_ I'll get my act together^^ i can't submit the next chapters tomorrow (Easter Sunday and such) but i'll do it no later than Tuesday, promise! Honestly, you can throw things if i don't~**

**...**

CHAPTER 7

Previously...

_Ashley snickered at him. He was as easy to see through as she was. They wore their emotions on their faces, but didn't that sum up most humans? It could be an asari thing too, and salarian. It occurred to her that she'd have a lot to learn about turians if her relationship was going to work, but she was pretty sure that Garrus would help her with that, just like she'd have to acquaint him with some well known human customs._

_She returned to the guns that she was meant to be checking before they moved on towards Virmire; her thoughts dwelling on the mail she would be sending back home. _

...

They would be reaching Virmire soon, less than a week away, and Ashley hadn't mentioned Garrus in her mail home yet. She didn't see the need to, not really, because apart from spending more time with him, and learning a little about each other's history, there wasn't much to tell. She'd thought that by being honest with the crew, they'd open up too, but she was still finding it difficult to make very public displays of affection, and Wrex's little comments and gagging noises certainly weren't helping in the slightest.

The fact that she felt so comfortable though, prompted her to move things along to the next stage next time they were alone. She knew Shepard and Liara were apparently taking things slowly – private little chats in the back room – but Shepard was the commanding officer, so it was different. Besides, she didn't want to move things on too far, but just enough to feel like they were progressing, and to prove Liara's little theory wrong.

She didn't know what the next stage was for turians, or if they had already reached it, or were nowhere near, but she would advance to the next stage in human relationships. She was curious though about later on down the line. Ashley herself had never slept with a non-human, but not having discussed anything like that yet with Garrus, she didn't know about him. Presumably, he had with other turians... they _did_ have female turians, right... Maybe asari too... but _humans_? She seriously doubted it. She didn't even know if it was biologically or anatomically possible.

Shepard emerged from the cargo lift, making her way over to the Gunnery-Chief, with a determined look on her face. "Hey, Ash, you have a minute to talk?"

"For you, skipper, how about five?"

Shepard smiled, a gentle look in her eyes. "I just want to make sure everything's okay with you. It took a lot of guts to tell everyone about you and Garrus, 'cause I haven't said anything about... me and Liara. I guess you know about that, seeing as you and Kaiden seem to have an ear to the ground."

"Yeah, but when you two look at each other all dreamy-eyed, I think you'd have to be living under a rock not to notice," she replied, wondering how personal the conversation was going to get. Given the fact Shepard had just admitted her feelings for T'Soni, maybe she was expecting some kind of return confession from Ashley.

"You know I like to get to know my crew, Ashley. So how are things with you and Garrus, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's weird, I'll say that," she said, though the words fell awkwardly from her mouth. She'd never been especially skilled at articulating her feelings. "I've learned more about turians in a week than I thought I could in a lifetime. And in some ways, they're similar to us, and in other ways, they're so not. Things haven't changed that much between us, honestly. We don't do the whole holding-hands thing, 'cause I don't really go in for that that kind of soppy crap. But I really like the guy."

Shepard smiled, reminding Ashley strangely of a proud mother. "You make a sweet couple, even if you don't realise it. Me and Wrex saw you two fixing the Mako together. It was a cute picture."

"Damn, Shepard, you going soft?" Ashley smirked, joking to try and hide her discomfort and embarrassment. She and Garrus had been acting as natural as possible. They were being only moderately affectionate in private, and certainly weren't parading it in front of others. But apparently just talking by the Mako and working together on it was enough to get Shepard cooing and other crewmates whispering. And Wrex was the last person she wanted watching their relationship progress.

"You should talk to Liara, you know. She might not have had much experience with other races, but she's still an asari. She might figure out a way for you and Garrus to... _bond_."

"Uh... it sounds really gross when you say it Shepard. Besides, I don't think T'Soni is the first person I'd got to for relationship advice," she answered, wondering if Shepard had completely ignored the animosity between the two. She really didn't like the idea of Liara acting as some kind of sex therapist for them. "I'll figure it out on my own."

Even as she said the words, doubt still filled her mind about the feasibility and future of the relationship.

...

Ashley had just sent some mail home to her youngest sister, Sarah. She was the one she felt closest to, these days, which was ironic considering how much time had been wasted with tension between them. She figured if anyone would understand. She decided to disclose a few details about her and Garrus, but didn't want to overwhelm her sister, so didn't plunge in at the deep end. Or at least, her concept of the deep end.

"Hey kiddo," Ashley said, smiling into the camera and feeling like a bit of an idiot. Her own face was being played back on the screen as she spoke. It was like having a conversation with yourself in the mirror, and felt equally stupid. And Wrex was looking at her again, with that wide, gloating smile. "Wrex, can you just give me _five_ minutes?" she yelled over at him.

"Not a chance," the large krogan replied. "This is my mid-morning entertainment." Now he wasn't even attempting to look inconspicuous. If he'd been smaller, or human, she would have smacked him.

"Ahem, sorry about that," she said to the screen, lowering her voice in the hope that Wrex might not be able to hear her. How well could krogan hear? She really needed a crash course on aliens. "What's new with you, Sarah? You thought any more 'bout what you wanna do after high school? And I don't wanna hear another word about joining the Alliance if you only wanna do it so you can meet Kaiden in person. He's too old for you, ya know. God, I sound like mom! How is she, anyway? Things are pretty crazy here, what with tracking down a rogue Spectre and his Reaper ship. And you thought mid-terms were stressful! I can't tell you much about what we're doing, but I'm on a ground mission next so I'm full of that pre-fight energy right now. Uh, listen, Sarah, there's something I wanted to tell you about. You can tell the others, but I want you to know first. So... you know how I mentioned that I'm kind of seeing someone, and you said it's against the rules, so said he's not with the Alliance, so you asked how he's on the ship... Well, he's not with the Alliance because... he's a non-human. Actually, a turian. Called Garrus. Yeah... so that's it really... "

Ashley flipped the camera off, unable to think of anything else to say about it without her words coming out as a garbled mess. Sarah could make what she wanted of it. In a way, Ashley hoped her younger sister would share the news with the rest of the family so that she wouldn't have to, but on the other hand, she didn't want them to know yet. She ignored she swirling feeling in her stomach and finished her vid with the usual soppy bits, continuing as though she had never even mentioned Garrus. Determined not to be a wimp, she sent it immediately, watching with a sense of grim satisfaction as the 'message sent' icon appeared on the screen.

...

"Hey there," Ashley said as she strolled over to the Mako, crouching next to the turian as he tampered with the underside of the vehicle. "I don't get why the Mako isn't all souped up by now, considering how much time you spend playing with it."

"You haven't noticed the improvements I made?" he asked, shuffling out from underneath the Mako.

Ashley grinned. "You mean the furry dice on the dashboard? Yeah, I noticed it."

"_That_ was Wrex," Garrus answered sourly. "I suppose he thought it was funny."

"Lighten up, Garrus, it _was_ funny," she sighed, still smiling at him and giving him a light shove that he didn't seem to know how to respond to. Obviously, she wasn't the only one who needed to learn a little more about the way certain species interacted. "You've been moping round the place all week."

"I can't help it; I'm just worried about the mission, and Saren. I know we're getting closer to catching him, but it doesn't feel like it. I'll just be glad when there's a bullet through his head."

Ashley glanced over her shoulder, just in case the Commander was yet again creeping up from the lift. "I know how you feel, but don't let Shepard hear you say it. Joker said that her and Liara were talking about how they feel sorry for Saren and want to just arrest him instead."

"What?" he demanded. Ashley secretly quite liked it when he got all riled up, it made a change from him kissing Shepard's ass. She knew it was mainly because of turian's strict military culture, and the fact that Shepard was a good leader, but it was still wearing. "And give him the chance to escape again?"

"Tell me about it. How about this: if either one of us is with Shepard when she makes the call, we do our best to make sure she makes the right one. And if she can't..."

Garrus nodded in agreement.

"Enough about Saren. I didn't get rid of Wrex so that we could talk about that turian ass."

Garrus gave her a bemused look, glancing over her shoulder at the spot where Wrex usually stood staring morosely at the wall. "You got rid of...?"

"Yup, he decided all of a sudden that he really wanted to hear more about the Migrant Fleet, so he went down to see Tali," she replied with a mischievous grin.

"That'll be fun for him," Garrus scoffed. If there was one person he wasn't worried about being direct with and insulting, it was Tali, especially when the quarian started talking about her people's misfortunes. "I'll be surprised if he doesn't come right back up any second now."

"He better not, considering I owe him a favour now."

"I still don't understand why you got rid of him."

Ashley edged closer, a glint in her eyes that betrayed her devious plans. "Well, I figured it was time we kicked things up a notch, only... I don't know what the next notch is, for turians."

"It doesn't matter, it wouldn't work with a human," he answered vaguely. "You have a back-up plan?"

"Meh, I'm not sure how it would work... turian faces are so different to humans'," she rambled, her discomfort rising once more as she realised how close they were coming to confronting the issue again. "And in any case, you can't eat human food, so maybe this would be the same. I don't want to _kill_ you."

Garrus stared at her, clearly puzzled. "The next stage for humans involves _eating_?"

"_No_, listen, I don't want to make an ass out of myself. This might not even work."

"I won't laugh," he promised.

"You better not," she warned in a half-threatening tone. "I swear, you even twitch, and you won't be able to sit down for a week."

Garrus laid his hands reassuringly on her arms. "I won't even breathe."

He quickly withdrew them again, as though embarrassed he had done it. Ashley stalled. If just touching her arm was too much contact for him...

"Joker better not be listening," she grumbled, trying to distract herself.

"You're a little obsessed with the idea of him listening. You make it sound like he's a pervert."

"We'll soon see how true that is. Anyway, I'll go for it, but you have to close your eyes, that's what humans do."

"All right, but why?"

Ashley sighed. She wasn't about to give him a crash course in human relationships. The only way to teach him was through experience. "Because it's the rule! I didn't write the book on it! Now come on, shut your eyes."

Garrus complied, and for a moment, Ashley just stood staring at him, unsure of whether or not she was actually ready to try it. If he felt foolish, stood there with his eyes shut, waiting for her to do something, he didn't show it. She took a moment to collect herself. Maybe she shouldn't have been so hasty before to make promises to Shepard about kissing turians.

She could fight hordes of geth without fear, so why was her heart pounding when all she had to do was something that should come naturally. Holding her reservations at bay, Ashley swiftly leaned upwards, placing her hands on either side of his rough face. It was weird, considering how soft human skin was in comparison. With one final effort, she pressed her lips against his... well, his mouth. Turians don't exactly have lips, do they?

At first, she froze, unsure of what direction to take. She pressed her body closer to his, though it felt awkward, due to the huge anatomical differences. Ignoring this, she let her hands slowly brush over his cheeks, and the strange, mandibles that jutted out from them. They flickered as she tenderly stroked his face, though she had no idea whether it was from enjoyment, or just sheer annoyance. He still hadn't moved.

Ashley's face burned as though on fire, but it was too late to pull back. She had to kiss him, properly. She parted her lips slightly, though they were still pressed against the turian's rigid mouth. Thankfully, he mimicked her movement, making her next move a little easier. Ashley gently slid her tongue into his mouth, absorbed by the weirdness of it. For a moment, Garrus' whole body went stiff, as though he was in shock. And for a brief second, she wondered if he was having some kind of allergic reaction, and began to feel apprehensive. A surge of relief washed over her as she felt his hands, which had been hanging limply by his side, gently caressing her.

Ashley couldn't keep a smile from her face, despite the awkwardness of it all. He tasted odd, not like any guy she'd ever kissed before. Not that it was unpleasant. Her tongue brushed his, which was quite rough, a surprise to her, seeing as she still hadn't been able to rid herself of the notion of turians being reptile-like. What surprised her far more, was when Garrus urged his tongue into her mouth, and she allowed it, more willingly than she would have thought.

The sensation of being so close, so intimate, sent all kinds of feelings coursing through her body. Despite their clear physical differences, and all that separated them, they could still find a way to demonstrate their feelings for each other, if they tried. Ashley had seen a couple of vids before, featuring inter-species relationships, and had thought it looked impossible and frankly a little repulsive, but as they took those first steps together, she realised that it wasn't too complicated, if they just tried. Maybe it could work just as effectively as a human relationship. Plus, he wasn't Alliance, so technically, no regs were being broken.

Reluctantly, she pulled away, savouring the feeling for a few moments. She still couldn't read turian expressions, but she knew well enough from his behaviour that he didn't hate it.

"So? What's the verdict?"

Garrus murmured, as though struggling to explain his thoughts. It was quite cute, and a rare experience to see him so lost for words. "It was... interesting. I've seen humans doing that before, but... I like it. But... what you were doing, with my..." he gestured at the mandibles that Ashley had been stroking unsurely. "Uh... well, turians don't usually... that's quite an intimate thing you just did, among turians. That kind of thing doesn't usually happen until later in the relationship."

Ashley was a little embarrassed, but a hell of a lot more relieved. She just laughed. "Oh... I hope I'm not going too fast for you, Garrus. Don't want you thinking us human girls are easy."

"It was just a little more intense than I'd expected. You really are unique, Chief Williams," he muttered breathlessly.

"You two finished with all the lovey-dovey crap yet?" Wrex's rumbling voice drifted up from the corridor leading down behind the lift.

"Wrex!" Ashley exclaimed, slightly annoyed at his untimely arrival. "I thought you were meant to be in the engine room."

The huge krogan ambled indifferently back to his favourite spot in the cargo bay, though it was a mystery to everyone why he hung around there, unless it was just to glare across at Garrus and the requisitions officer. "I was, but Tali kept going on and on. She never runs out of stories, and then she started telling me about the engine. I had no idea what she was talking about, half the time."

Garrus cleared his throat, speaking loudly now. "That's fine, we're done here for now," then his voice dropped to a whisper, as he leaned towards Ashley, muttering into her ear: "I want to talk to you though, Chief Williams, but after the mission is complete. I don't want to risk harming our chance of catching Saren, but after that, I'd like to..._get to know you a little better_."

Ashley smiled as he pulled away, gazing at her with an unreadable look in his eyes. "I'll look forward to it."

...

**A/N: if the whole kiss thing seemed awkward, it was meant to~ to anyone who can still be bothered to read - thank you! :D**


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Previously...

_Garrus cleared his throat, speaking loudly now. "That's fine, we're done here for now," then his voice dropped to a whisper, as he leaned towards Ashley, muttering into her ear: "I want to talk to you though, Chief Williams, but after the mission is complete. I don't want to risk harming our chance of catching Saren, but after that, I'd like to...get to know you a little better."_

_Ashley smiled as he pulled away, gazing at her with an unreadable look in his eyes. "I'll look forward to it."_

...

The ground team's gaze was dragged upwards as the loud drone of a geth ship soared overhead. They saw it heading towards the bomb's location.

"Looks like the geth are sending reinforcements," Liara announced unnecessarily.

Kaiden's panicked voice burst through the radio on their suits. "The geth are pounding us!"

"Hold on, I'm coming back!" Shepard cried, moving away from Garrus and Liara, perhaps to give herself a little privacy in the difficult situation, though they could hear every word through the radio.

"No, you've gotta save Ashley," the lieutenant insisted. "I'm arming the nuke, this bomb has to go off, no matter what!"

"Forget about me, save Kaiden!" Ashley cried back.

Her words tore through Garrus. He knew she didn't want her friend to sacrifice his life for her, but to hear her so readily give herself up to death. Garrus didn't want Shepard's decision to be swayed by his presence, to feel responsible for Kaiden's death, because of his own selfish wants, but he couldn't help it, he couldn't lose Ashley, no matter who else had to pay for it.

"Are you all right, Garrus?" Liara half-whispered to the frozen turian.

He said nothing. He couldn't have said anything even if he'd wanted to.

Finally, they heard Shepard's strained voice. "Williams, radio Joker and tell him to meet me there."

Ashley sounded crushed by Shepard's decision. "Yes, Commander, I..."

The three humans exchanged brief, but heartfelt good-byes and apologies. Garrus felt the guilt grinding his insides, the knowledge that the Commander would never have chosen to leave Ashley behind when he was stood right there. His inability to put his feelings aside and accomplish the mission might cost a man his life. His father had told him this would happen, in not so many words.

Shepard leaned on the rail in front of her, then inhaled deeply, burying her emotions. She turned to her teammates.

"Let's move, we need to get to Ashley."

Garrus followed, trying to cover his feelings too, though somehow he just felt numb.

...

When they made it to where Ashley and the salarians were fighting, the scene was carnage. The Gunnery-Chief herself was slouched next to a wall, clutching her gun. It was clear she was injured. Garrus sprinted over to her, dropping to her side. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, it's just my stomach," Ashley groaned, one hand clasped round her gun and the other pressed against her scarlet-tinged suit. She looked like she was about to say something else, but instead a flash of disbelief covered her face as she stared straight past him and into the skies. "It's Saren!"

...

"Where've you been hit?" Dr. Chakwas asked as she fetched supplies, leaving Ashley sat on one of the uncomfortable beds in the med-bay, until she returned a moment later.

"My stomach, I was hit in the stomach," she answered. Her words felt hollow. The pain of a few bullets scraping her stomach was nothing compared to the heart-rending anguish of losing one of her closest friends, and feeling responsible for it.

"Just sit still, I'll have you fixed in a moment," Dr. Chakwas instructed as she treated the wound, giving Ashley some pills for the pain, and finishing off with a helping of medi-gel to keep the wound infection-free whilst it healed. "You might feel a little light-headed, but you should be fine. I'll give you two a minute, but I think the Commander's called a meeting in the comm room."

"Thanks. We'll be up in a sec."

"How are you feeling?" Garrus asked, speaking to her properly for the first time since they parted ways at the salarian camp. So much had changed in that brief space of time.

"Like crap, and not because I was hit."

"I'm sorry, I know Lieutenant Alenko was a close friend of yours," the turian said quietly, his head bowed.

"It's not just that," Ashley replied with frustration. "It's _my_ fault he's dead."

"How is it? It was the geth who killed him, at Saren's command. You shouldn't blame yourself just because you were both attacked, and Commander Shepard chose you."

"You don't understand," she sighed bitterly. "It should've been me! She should've rescued Kaiden."

"What would be the point of sacrificing yourself like that, just to have Lieutenant Alenko feeling as badly as you do right now, and risking the failure of the mission," he reasoned, his voice growing frustrated. Even if his logic sounded sensible to him, the last thing she needed when she was grieving was to hear that the mission comes before her friend. "If the Commander had gone to help him, something might have happened to the bomb, or she might have been killed, leaving no one to stop Saren."

"'The mission'," Ashley scoffed, her voice far colder than she would've intended. "Hell, I should've known better than to think a _turian_ would understand. All you people care about is your work – getting the mission done – and you're no different. I'm surprised you found it so hard at C-Sec, 'cause you sure sound like you belong there. All rules and regulations. Who gives a _shit_ about the people involved, so long as everything's done by the book? Well I'm sorry, but I'm _human_, and it might be hard for you to understand, but we have _emotions_. This one right here is called grief – it's what we do when we lose someone close – though I wouldn't expect a turian to have a _clue _what I'm talking about."

Ashley expected him to burst into an angry tirade, or hit something, throw something, lose his temper. Instead, he shot her one lingering look, which she could not decipher, and stormed off, heading back to the cargo bay lift.

...


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's notes: Oh no!! A fight.. we can't be having that! O M G! an update, so soon? how can it be? must be something wrong with me!**

**...**

CHAPTER 9

Previously...

"'_The mission'," Ashley scoffed, her voice far colder than she would've intended. "Hell, I should've known better than to think a turian would understand. All you people care about is your work – getting the mission done – and you're no different. I'm surprised you found it so hard at C-Sec, 'cause you sure sound like you belong there. All rules and regulations. Who gives a shit about the people involved, so long as everything's done by the book? Well I'm sorry, but I'm human, and it might be hard for you to understand, but we have emotions. This one right here is called grief – it's what we do when we lose someone close – though I wouldn't expect a turian to have a clue what I'm talking about."_

_Ashley expected him to burst into an angry tirade, or hit something, throw something, lose his temper. Instead, he shot her one lingering look, which she could not decipher, and stormed off, heading back to the cargo bay lift._

...

Ashley grabbed a tray of nutrient-packed slop, pointedly seating herself at the opposite end of the table from Garrus, the rest of the party sitting tentatively in between. The only two people not present were the other two humans who had been in the ground party. Shepard had spent the past day in her quarters, rarely coming out, and never very relaxed when she did.

She shovelled the bland food into her mouth, hoping to finish soon so that she return to her duties, which were failing to take her mind off her brooding for very long. In her heart of hearts, she knew that she should be the one to apologise. Fair enough, Garrus had been insensitive, but that didn't warrant her abusive rant. Pride, however, stopped her from doing more than glaring at him at various intervals, and every time she did, she could see that he was seething.

Tali was tinkering with a piece of machinery whilst she sat at the table. Apparently, the foul mood that loomed over the table was not enough to deter her from sitting with the party whilst they ate. She sighed in frustration as the machinery gave a non-compliant bleep.

"D'you mind if I take a look at it for a second?" Garrus asked her, extending his hand, into which the quarian reluctantly placed the machinery. He was pointedly ignoring the glare that was burning into his face, and was coming from Ashley's end of the table. She wanted him to speak to her, but he wouldn't, and she was damned if she was going to make the first move.

Ashley stared as he tampered with the electronic instrument, and was joined in her gawping by the rest of the table, though their gazes contained a little less hostility. With the possible exception of Wrex... but that was just how the krogan always looked.

He pressed a few things, his eyes narrowed in concentration, before he leaned back, an apparent smug look on his face before he held Tali's device out to her.

"I think you'll find that's solved the problem," he told her, just before a shrill bleep rang out, causing the quarian to cover her ears (or presumably where they would be) in shock.

"What the hell did you do, Garrus?!" she exclaimed, snatching the machinery from him and heading off for the elevator as another series of loud bleeps burst from it.

Liara focussed intently on the tray in front of her, her wide eyes displaying her discomfort for the galaxy to see. Wrex's mouth was set in a wide, toothy grin, no doubt revelling in the turian's embarrassment and consternation. Today, Ashley joined him, a smirk creeping onto her lips as she poked her food with a spoon.

"Is something amusing you, Chief Williams?" Garrus asked with thinly veiled annoyance.

Ashley set her spoon down, in case she later was tempted to use it as a weapon, and glared at him, opening her mouth to begin the argument she had been waiting two days to have. She wanted to provoke him, because she didn't know how else to get him to speak with her. She wasn't sure what other route could be taken to her apology.

Before she could get a word out, Wrex snarled at the pair of them. "Enough already. So you two had a lovers' spat. Maybe you didn't notice, but there's a war going on. Maybe the world will end, I don't know, but I sure as hell know that you two bitching isn't the last thing I wanna hear before it does."

He stabbed a knife violently into his food and took a large bite.

Ashley and Garrus shared an incredulous glance for a moment, before turning their dagger-glares on the krogan.

"Screw you, Wrex," Ashley spat. "Like I give a shit what you think."

"Exactly!" Garrus chimed in indignantly. "You don't have any right to judge us. Since when have you cared about the bigger picture anyway? I thought you were only concerned with acquiring credits."

"Yeah, so don't you going saying _we're_ self-obsessed, when everyone knows that _you're _the selfish bastard round here."

"Exactly," Garrus nodded. His satisfied gaze met Ashley's for a second as they shared a moment of triumph over the silent krogan. For the briefest second, his gaze was returned by a flicker of a smile, before both the human and the turian remembered that they were in the middle of hating each other, and promptly both pushed their chairs back, Ashley storming up to the cockpit to talk to Joker, and Garrus striding to the lift to brood by the Mako.

Liara lifted her head and gave Wrex a perplexed stare.

"It was worth a shot," he said with a shrug, returning to his food.

...

She hadn't spoken to him for a few days now. Not since the mess hall drama. Both of them had too much pride to apologise to the other, and Ashley was going to be damned if she'd be saying sorry when it was him who was insensitive. Other than Shepard, who had come to grieve with her, the other crewmembers had left well enough alone, until that moment.

Liara approached her, her already blue skin giving off an incandescent glow in the blue lighting. "I wanted to see how you are."

"I'm okay, really," Ashley nodded, deciding to put her hard feelings towards the asari to bed for the moment. The Virmire mission had reminded her that they were all mortal, for the first time since Eden Prime. "Better than I was a few days ago. I'm all set on getting payback now."

"That is not the only reason I came to talk to you. Forgive me, Chief Williams, it might not be my place, but I noticed that Garrus seems very dejected. His mood is very sour, and I was wondering if something had happened," Liara no doubt meant well, but her expression, the very way she said it made it sound like she was trying to teach a naughty child the proper way to socialise in the playground.

"What the hell is this, an intervention?" she snapped angrily. "I don't need relationship advice from you – you spent the last hundred years living in a cave!"

Liara frowned. "It was not actually one-hundred years, but I understand your reluctance. I just thought I might be able to help."

"How, exactly? We had an argument, how are gonna fix that with brain-probing."

"'Brain-probing', as you call is, is not all we do. Asari have long been recognised as skilled negotiators," Liara explained in a soothing voice. Ashley was suspicious, after all, how did she know whether they just weren't always messing with people's minds and pretending otherwise? Still, if the asari could do something to ease the tension between her and Garrus... it couldn't hurt.

"Fine, you are so convinced that you can solve other people's problems, then go ahead."

Ashley folded her arms, watching with a sour expression as the meddlesome asari wandered over to the sullen turian, folding her hands demurely behind her back and speaking quietly to him. Ashley couldn't hear a word of their conversation, but she kept her eyes firmly fixed in place. Given the fact that turians' facial expressions don't exactly change, she didn't expect to learn anything of the conversation's progress until after it had finished, but only a few minutes after it began, she heard Garrus' irate raised voice floating over to her.

"Quit bothering me! Ugh... I'm sorry, Doctor T'Soni, but you have to understand. It was _my _fault, not hers."

At that point, the asari, remarkably unruffled, said something to him in a mild, soothing voice. He sighed, regarding her for a short while, before nodding slowly, and appearing calm. Ashley couldn't help but help but feel impressed. For all Liara's social blundering, she had just displayed great skill at reasoning with Garrus, though it still wasn't as impressive as Shepard's had been with Wrex on Virmire. Ashley was still grateful, though she couldn't help but wonder if she'd have to go running to the asari every time her relationship hit the rocks.

Liara made her way back over to the Chief, with a resigned expression on her blue face. "Garrus has calmed down now, and I think it would be a good time to talk to him. It won't be long before he becomes angry again."

Ashley stared at the asari, completely baffled. "How the hell did you do that? Seriously, you were only over there about five minutes before you convinced him you're right."

"I managed to convince him that it's foolish to put his feelings on hold until after the battle with Saren..." Liara murmured, her downcast face betraying her thoughts before her words could, "because we don't know if any of us will survive it, not now we know Saren is just a puppet for one of the Reapers. We cannot blame ourselves for the devastation that they cause." She paused, her pale eyes fixed on Ashley, who knew that the asari was referring to her guilt over Kaiden's death. "I cannot entirely take credit for my intuition here though... what I say is influenced by my own fears for the future of my own relationship with Shepard."

"I guess, but now this means I owe you," the Chief replied, covering her mild annoyance with her gratitude. She could probably have achieved the same result... though, it would've just taken longer... and involved more yelling. "Oh, and I already owe Wrex a favour. Damn, I'll never repay you all. This is why I don't usually let people do stuff for me."

Liara gave a sad little smile. Clearly the mission was weighing heavily on her mind, or maybe she was still hurting from the loss of her mother. In any case, the asari wandered off to the infernally slow lift, and left Ashley wondering if she should approach the turian immediately. Wrex was staring with his usual amused gaze. She knew he wasn't the gentle giant Shepard seemed to think he was, but she frankly didn't care what he thought of her little spat with Garrus. And she didn't care if he was going to eavesdrop.

Ashley made her way over to the turian, who was watching her progress with a hawkish gaze.

"Garrus."

"I've already been lectured by Dr. T'Soni," he snapped. He glanced away, but his gaze was slowly drawn back to meet hers, and he sighed, clearly tired of the feud. "I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."

"Shut up, Garrus," she replied, before realising those weren't the best words to use, and moving swiftly on. "I didn't mean that stuff I said before, I was just angry. And I felt so guilty. At the time, I thought you didn't understand."

"But I did, honestly," he replied. "I felt the same as you, after we returned from Virmire. I thought that by being with Shepard when she made that choice, that I'd changed her decision. That I'd caused Lieutenant Alenko to be left behind."

Ashley sighed. She wasn't going to say it was harder than she thought it would be, because she always knew it was going to be tough, but she'd never thought life would throw its own crappy spanner into the works. Guilt was a terrible thing, and one she couldn't help but suffer from. It was what was partly holding back her feelings for the turian – the idea that somehow she was betraying her father. Fraternising with the enemy. Now, the death of Kaiden added to that. It was like she would be gloating. Somehow though, it comforted her to know she wasn't alone in her screwed up feelings. She just regretted lashing out like she did, letting her old prejudices bubble to the surface in her moment of fury.

"I'm sorry," she said. Two words that didn't come from her mouth often, but when they did, she honestly meant them.

Garrus sighed, grazing a finger over her cheek. She gave him a weak smile, moving closer and resting her head against his chest. Though the turian wasn't used to comforting humans, he gave it his best, wrapping an arm round Ashley and stroking her hair gently, trying to ignore the slight shaking of her shoulders as she hid her face from the world.

...


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Previously...

"_I'm sorry," she said. Two words that didn't come from her mouth often, but when they did, she honestly meant them._

_Garrus sighed, grazing a finger over her cheek. She gave him a weak smile, moving closer and resting her head against his chest. Though the turian wasn't used to comforting humans, he gave it his best, wrapping an arm round Ashley and stroking her hair gently, trying to ignore the slight shaking of her shoulders as she hid her face from the world._

...

Ashley was still waiting for her mail back from Sarah. Apart from a message of condolences that had been sent by the whole family, she'd heard nothing. In the last message, it seemed that her younger sister hadn't spoken to the family yet about the turian-relationship-business, and Ashley was beginning to wonder if either her family was going to ignore the issue – which _never _happened – or whether, more logically, her little sister knew it was going to cause upsets and therefore was going to say nothing.

She shook her head and closed the window, picking up a gun and beginning to clean it before setting that back down again. She was too restless, and tired of waiting to hear her family's approval on this. There was only one last stop before the end of the world, and she didn't want Garrus going to Ilos with unfinished business between them.

With a silent prayer that she didn't say something to screw up the moment she wanted to create, Ashley headed over to Garrus. He glanced round as she arrived, still fussing with a control panel on the Mako. It reassured her to know that he'd made all these improvements to the Mako before he went to Ilos – a far cry from two months ago when she'd not-so-secretly thought he was trying to steal Alliance technology and send it back to the turian military – but she still debated whether or not to ask the slightly more technologically adept Tali to double-check his work. Not to wound his pride or anything, but she didn't want him landing on Ilos and have the Mako explode after being caught on a space pebble or something stupid.

He was only vaguely paying attention to the fact she was stood next to him, which Ashley wasn't having. She knew he had mere hours before he went to Ilos, so was obviously a little distracted, but all the more reason to take his mind off it. Ashley grabbed the front of his suit, dragging the turian round to face her, before reaching onto her tip-toes and planting a kiss firmly on his mouth. She drew back with a grin and surveyed his surprised face.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I don't want to hold back. We both know what happened to Kaiden. That could've been either of us, and I don't want to waste our time together," she explained, wondering if he could tell the direction her thoughts were heading in. Apparently so.

"I agree..." he began tentatively. "It just goes against all the principles I was raised with, but I guess I already did that when I deserted C-Sec to follow Commander Shepard. It's just Ilos now. Don't know who she's taking, do you?"

Ashley shrugged. Nothing had been confirmed, but it wasn't hard to work it out, and she figured the turian was just making conversation. "Not exactly, but I know it's not me, not after Virmire. It won't be Wrex either. Shepard might have forgiven him for losing his cool, but she's not stupid: she won't take a loose cannon on a life-or-death mission."

"That just leaves me, Tali and the doctor."

"Yep, and I'm not so sure Shepard would take T'Soni. She might be scared of letting her feelings get in the way, just like you, even if a Prothean scientist is the obvious choice to take to a Prothean planet. So it'll probably be you and Tali. Even more reason for us to make the most of our time," she added, hoping to bring his mind back round to the reason why she'd originally come over.

"You're right," he nodded, glancing over at the watching krogan, before glancing down at the human woman. "Most people say that humans are hot-headed and rash, but sometimes I can see why you behave like you do."

"Good," Ashley grinned, her face overcome with a mischievous expression as it had been when she'd kissed him. The turian was about to ask what she was thinking, when she abruptly grabbed his hand, leading him to the cargo lift. "Come with me. If you're going to Ilos, I want to say a proper goodbye... even if it's only until I see you again."

Garrus tried to ask her what she was planning, but the Gunnery-Chief wouldn't say a word, she just grinned and tapped her nose. The ride up was agonisingly slow, and Ashley's nerves were jangling around like wind chimes in a hurricane. She couldn't be more anxious about what they were about to do. She was pretty sure Garrus wanted to do it too, but she wasn't sure _how_ exactly they were going to manage it. She'd seen a couple of vids featuring inter-species relationships, but they usually involved asari... so it may not even be biologically... or anatomically... possible in any way. Nevertheless, if he was about to go off on a do-or-die mission, she wasn't going to miss the one opportunity they had, and scuttlebutt said that Shepard and T'Soni had been thinking exactly the same thing about their relationship and were acting on those thoughts too.

Only difference was, Ashley didn't have her own private quarters. Luckily, if Liara was with Shepard, then the back room of the med-bay was free. It wasn't the most romantic location, but it would do.

Chakwas shot the pair a frown, before strolling past them. "I have to go and speak with Pressly." She announced, not even waiting to hear a reply.

Ashley grinned, leading the bemused turian towards the back room. She pushed him inside, and locked the door. Then she leaned back against the door, her eyes on the turian standing uncomfortably in the centre of the room. She laughed at his nervousness, wondering if he had realised what her intentions were yet, or if he had known all along.

"So," she began, moving closer until she came to a standstill just inches from him. "This could be your last night alive... and if you guys fail, it could be mine too. Anything could happen when we reach Ilos. I don't usually do this kinda thing... but, I think the situation calls for it."

Garrus didn't say anything. He just sighed, though she couldn't tell if it was signifying his relief, relaxation, melancholy, happiness, apprehension, or something different entirely. He reached up, brushing his talon-like fingers over her dark hair, which was, as always, tied tightly at the back of her head.

"Do you mind?" he murmured, his quavering voice barely more than a whisper.

Ashley smiled, though she wasn't exactly sure what he was referring to. The poor guy seemed nervous, and she was sure he'd never done anything like this with a human before. Not that she'd done it with an alien. She slipped her hands round his narrow waist, slightly unnerved by how disproportionate turians' bodies looked when compared to humans. She heard Garrus give a sharp intake of breath, and she wondered for a brief moment if he was too scared, if he was going to bolt, or something.

Instead, unravelled the knot that the hair was curled into, letting it fall about her face. She never usually had it down, mainly for practical reasons, but also because she thought she looked dreadful with her hair loose. It was messy and flopped into her face in the most unflattering and irritating way.

"Beautiful," Garrus muttered, running his fingers through her messy brown hair.

"Seriously?" she asked, unable to suppress her amusement.

"Mmh, I've always wanted to run my fingers through human hair. I've never seen any species with anything like it. It's so soft... beautiful, really."

Ashley got the feeling he might have continued smoothing his fingers through her hair until they reached Ilos unless she moved things along. She moved her hands up to cup his face, kissing him as she had done the first time. This time though, it didn't feel so _experimental_, it was more intense, weird as it was, and carried a feeling of urgency.

Ashley pulled away, removing her clothing, piece by piece. She felt like a teenager again, half of her exhilarated by the unknown adventure, part of her feeling awkward and unsure. She was comforted in the knowledge that Garrus felt exactly the same. She also knew that this was something she badly wanted to do, while they had the opportunity. If they were all going to die, she didn't want it to be with regrets.

Her eyes slowly roved up the turian in front of her. Until several weeks ago, she had never been on a mission with an turian, she'd never shared living quarters with a turian, and now, she was staring at turian, who was as naked as she was, weaknesses exposed.

Both of them gazed at the other, drinking in the unusual sight. Garrus had seen half-naked human females before, Chora's Den was full of them, and they looked similar to asari anyway, but it seemed like an entirely new experience seeing Ashley...

As for the gunnery-chief herself, the most she had ever seen of a turian was their face and neck. The sight in front of her was enough to make her choke with disbelief that she was in such a surreal moment in time.

Garrus shifted from one foot to the other, embarrassed. Adolescent thoughts flooded into Ashley's head again, bringing with them a strange sense of nostalgia that mingled itself with the peculiarity of the situation. _What if he thinks I'm clumsy and inexperienced? What if it hurts?_

She waved the paranoid thoughts from her head, and moved closer. Garrus tentatively wrapped his arms about her. Her bare skin tingled as it was brushed by his almost reptilian skin. She was unable to repress a shudder at the unfamiliar feeling. The turian froze, but Ashley dispelled his mounting worries with a smile.

Remembering their encounter with the thresher maw, the reason they were even in that room together, Ashley's eyes drifted to Garrus' shoulder. She saw the healing skin that had been burnt by the thresher acid, and instinctively brushed her lips against it, kissing the fragile skin gently.

Garrus inhaled deeply, and suddenly, grabbed her by the waist, lifting her easily onto some supply crates that had been piled against the wall. She stared at him in surprise, but it was clear the turian was no longer feeling anxious. She sat perched on the crates in front of him, and trembled as his hands ran over her skin, pulling her closer to him.

Ashley gasped as they melted into one another, clutching him to her, frozen for a moment in shock. She quickly overcame it, and embraced the experience. The two of them clung to each other, moving fiercely as one.

In all her years, if someone had told Ashley that this moment would one day come, she would never have believed them, yet here she was, connected to this turian in the most intimate way possible. She didn't even feel the reservations that she had before. It didn't matter anymore that he wasn't human. All that was important in that moment was the experience they were sharing – perhaps their first, and last – and the excitement and pleasure coursing through her whole body.

They collapsed, exhausted, against the crates. Ashley gasped for air, feeling like she had just been training, only feeling a heck of a lot more satisfied for it. She leaned against the turian, whose chest was heaving as he breathed deeply.

She laughed, spreading her sweaty limbs on the cold floor. Clearly turians weren't subjected to such unflattering after-effects.

"Wow, that was _incredible_," she grinned.

"Maybe I waited too long for this," Garrus purred, running his fingers along her damp thigh.

Ashley laughed at his eagerness, considering how only a while back he seemed like he'd rather give Wrex a foot-rub than dare to sleep with her. "Why, you looking for a round two?"

"You think you could handle it, with your delicate little human body?"

"'Delicate'?" she questioned, giving him a light shove. "For that, I'm tempted to throw you out, unless you wanna come over here and stop me."

Joker's sombre voice sounded on the radio, making Ashley start. For a second she'd thought he was somehow in the room, and that really would be perverted. She chuckled at her own foolishness.

"Commander Shepard, report to the bridge. We're almost at Ilos."

Ashley's gaze became a little more serious as she stared at the turian. His eyes seemed despondent, a far cry from a few moments ago when they were teasing each other. She kissed his cheek, and the mandible flicked slightly, but the look in his eyes didn't change.

She got to her feet, holding out a hand to pull him up. He was heavy though, and fell against her slightly as he stood. Garrus sighed, and Ashley gave him a small smile. "Guess we'll have to put things on hold. It's showtime for you guys."

...


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's notes: so, this is the last chapter. thank you thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, added it to a list, or generally liked^^ love you guys!!**

**...**

CHAPTER 11

Previously...

"_Commander Shepard, report to the bridge. We're almost at Ilos."_

_Ashley's gaze became a little more serious as she stared at the turian. His eyes seemed despondent, a far cry from a few moments ago when they were teasing each other. She kissed his cheek, and the mandible flicked slightly, but the look in his eyes didn't change._

_She got to her feet, holding out a hand to pull him up. He was heavy though, and fell against her slightly as he stood. Garrus sighed, and Ashley gave him a small smile. "Guess we'll have to put things on hold. It's showtime for you guys." _

...

Having avoided the soppy goodbyes, and Liara stalking her round the ship after that, Ashley grumpily ditched her things in her locker. She hated being left behind while the others got to go blow that smartass turian to pieces, but took consolation from the fact that Wrex was taking it worse than her. Krogan were notoriously hard to read, but even she could see the big lizard man was walking around with a face like a slapped arse at the moment.

"Chief Williams!" It was that blood-curdling, hair-raising, pulse-stopping voice from behind her. She turned round to see the asari scientist with a sentimental expression on her bright blue face. "How are you?"

"Just peachy, thanks for asking," was Ashley's swift reply, as she breezed past T'Soni, really not feeling in the mood for a heart-to-heart with a woman she could barely tolerate. She'd put her dislike of the asari aside after the help she'd given previously, but she couldn't abide the woman following her around like they were best friends.

"I imagine Garrus' departure is as hard on you as Shepard's is for me, but if we need to be supportive. Despite this, if you feel the need to talk–"

"You'll be there," she finished for the asari. "Yeah, I got it, but what'll make me feel better than talking, is pumping a few hundred rounds into the side of one of those geth ships."

With that, she hit the button inside the lift, closing the doors on T'Soni's beseeching face, and taking the trip up to the bridge. Her destination though, was the cockpit. She wanted to know what was going on down there, and if she would get the chance to go on one of the gun turrets that were situated on either side of the cockpit.

...

Ashley tensed up when she heard a comm channel being opened from the Citadel Council Chamber. Joker threw her an apprehensive look –even the easy-going pilot wasn't above anxiety, as he asked, "Normandy to the Citadel, Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, commander."

"I'm here, Joker," replied the voice of Shepard. Ashley had never felt so glad to hear it in her whole life. It meant that Saren had been taken out.

"We caught that distress signal, commander. I'm sitting here in the Andura sector with the entire Arcturus fleet. We can save the Ascension, just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send the cavalry in."

Ashley caught the sound of Garrus and Tali bickering over the point in the background, before Joker finally asked for the commander's decision. They both knew what it was before she even made it, and the gunnery-chief didn't dispute it, though she knew she would have done in the not-so-distant past.

"What's the order, commander – go in now and save the Ascension, or hold back?"

Shepard replied with her earnest urgency, "Opening the relays now, Joker. We need to save the Ascension no matter what the cost."

This was the news that Ashley had been looking forward to, because it meant that she was finally being invited into the party. She dropped into the seat behind the gunnery station, taking the controls with relish. Her enthusiasm was almost palpable, but Joker seemed for the first time in his life, serious.

Ashley smiled with confidence. "She knows what she's doing."

"She does," Joker concurred, glancing towards her, "but there's a crapload of geth out there, and I'm gonna need you on that gun to cover my ass so I can get us through."

"Aye aye, sir."

She felt the typical surge as the Normandy shot through the relay. Her stomach flipped over. Though there wasn't supposed to be any noticeable change when travelling through the relays, or so said the scientists back on Earth who had probably never been through a mass relay in their lives.

As they passed through, tailed by the Arcturus fleet, Ashley caught sight of the horde of geth ships that were scattered all over the nebula surrounding the Citadel. There was no immediate sign of Sovereign, but there was plenty of sign of the decimated ships of the Council races. It looked like the fate of the galaxy was on humanity's shoulders. She couldn't help but feel proud – if only her father could see her right now, but maybe he could.

"Alliance ships move in, save the Destiny Ascension," Admiral Hackett ordered in his usual gravelly voice that was always in control.

Joker, proving that he was the skilled pilot he always claimed to be, weaved in and out of the rubble that floated around them, and was sometimes flung straight at them. Missiles hurtled towards the oncoming Alliance fleet, blasting various ships to pieces, while the Normandy just managed to skirt their path.

Ashley gritted her teeth, glaring in anger at what the damn synthetics were doing to the Alliance. She opened fire immediately, sending off a few missiles in the direction of a nearby geth ship, causing it to blow up. Not pausing to celebrate the tiny victory, she moved on to one of the many other geth ships, blasting it with a prototype laser that the Normandy had been fitted with.

"Destiny Ascension you are all clear, I repeat you are all clear," Joker announced to the asari commander waiting on the comm channel, as soon as a path had been cleared for the immense warship. Despite its power and size, even the Ascension couldn't single-handedly hold off the attack.

Hackett's voice came down the line to them again. "The arms are opening, all ships move in. Concentrate on Sovereign."

Ashley's attention was diverted to the glittering ward arms – was that fire? – and as they opened, she caught sight of Sovereign. It had latched itself onto the Tower, no doubt waiting for Saren to hand all power over to it. Surely it knew that that moment would never come? It made her sick to think that Garrus and the other two were so close to its metal claws.

The Normandy was the first through the arms, but was swiftly followed by other Alliance ships, all sending a barrage of gunfire towards the Reaper, which repelled every attempt with some impregnable shield. Even Ashley's laser couldn't pierce its protection, much to her fury.

Then, as though its apparent invulnerability wasn't enough of a kick to the crotch, it unleashed a laser a gazillion times stronger than that of the Normandy. The weapon tore through the Alliance ships, obliterating them. They couldn't defeat it; all they could hope to do was evade its attack.

A panicked voice from another Alliance ship fed through to them, speaking the truth that none of them wanted to accept. "We have to pull back – Sovereign's too strong."

"Negative!" Hackett replied vehemently. "This is our only chance; take that monster down, no matter what the cost."

His conviction was infectious. They realised that there was no turning back; if they did so, destruction would be all they achieved. Ashley, for one, was certainly not going to turn-tail and run from this synthetic bastard.

For good measure, the gunnery-chief sent a few blasts in Sovereign's direction, as though she expected it to suddenly penetrate that infuriating shield. What other choice did she have? Joker kept darting in and out of the hail of fire, and despite his faults, she had to admit he was an amazing pilot.

Just as Ashley was beginning to wonder if this was it, that they would exhaust all attack power and still not defeat this Reaper, a vivid red electricity covered Sovereign, and it swayed on the pinnacle, almost as if the machine was dizzy. Whether it was something Shepard had done, or the strain of its shields having to deflect a relentless attack, Ashley didn't know, but this was what they'd been waiting for.

"Its shields are down, now's our chance!" Joker yelled into the comm, confirming what Ashley had suspected.

Hackett's reply was immediate and indomitable, "Hit it with everything we've got."

The Normandy flew up over the Reaper, before Joker spun it round, so the nose was facing downward for the briefest moment. "Hard on my flank, I'm going in!"

The ship bore down on Sovereign, weaving through the blasts from the other Alliance vessels. Ashley was ready. She fired, the laser ripping through the metal of that damn synthetic with a vicious slash. It shook, exploded, hunks of the Reaper ship flung through the space within the ward arms. Some of the debris caused even more devastation to the wards, some hitting Alliance vessels, and the tip of one claw plunging towards the comparatively tiny Citadel Tower, right were Garrus, Tali and Shepard were.

Ashley felt her breath catch in her throat.

...

The acrid taste of the smoke that swamped the Citadel Tower filled Garrus' mouth, and he tried to push himself to his feet, but found that his leg must have been injured when a chunk of Sovereign had crashed into the Tower.

Debris was scattered all about them, hemming them in, and possibly obstructing the path of anyone trying to help them. That was, if there was anyone left who could help, given the fact the whole of the Citadel was in ruins.

"I wonder if anyone will come for us. The causalities will be very high, and we might be dead before anyone reaches us."

That was Tali speaking, of course – the life and soul of any good party. She couldn't half be annoyingly negative sometimes. Fair enough, he wasn't exactly an optimist, and the odds didn't look great, but the last thing he wanted to hear before he died was the sound of that quarian complaining. He wished that Shepard had brought Ashley instead. Although, he wouldn't have wanted her here in these ruins, faced with the possibility of dying from injuries, starvation from not being found, or the barrier that was currently stopping the air being sucked into space from failing. That said, he had no idea what had happened out there. Had she survived the fight against Sovereign? They hadn't heard from the Normandy after Shepard gave the go-ahead for the rescue of the Destiny Ascension.

"I wonder just how high the casualties are," Garrus murmured, his thoughts as dark as the blood seeping from his wounded leg. "A lot of ships will have been destroyed in the attack."

Tali replied, sounding a little vacant, "It will be okay, don't worry."

Garrus himself was feeling a little weary. He wondered if he was going to pass out, when a vague movement ahead caught his attention. At first he thought he'd imagined it, but sure enough, the scrap of wrecked metal in front of the collapsed pair was shoved aside, and the warm yellow glow from a C-Sec officer's torch fell upon them.

...

In the mad frenzy of nerves that had preceded the fight against Sovereign, Ashley had completely forgotten about the mail she was waiting to receive from home. That's why it came as a bit of a shock when she noticed a hefty vid-mail file sitting in her inbox. She wondered briefly whether she should look at it at all. Her family meant so much to her, and if it was negative, it could tarnish her relationship with Garrus. It was a miracle they'd both made it this far. Ashley pulled herself together. Enough of this crap. She was a big girl – she could deal with her family's disapproval.

With a deep breath, she clicked on the mail, watching as the beaming face of a young woman filled the screen. Well, Sarah seemed happy enough, but out of everyone in the family, her youngest sister was the most broad-minded. Sarah scooted to the edge of the screen and Abby's face came into view. She had that permanent expression of disdain planted on there, but no disapproval yet. Then again, Abby was weird so she might like the idea of her sister dating a turian. It was her mother and other sister that she was concerned about.

"Hi, Ash!" Sarah cried, swooping down on the camera and giving it a noisy kiss. Ashley rolled her eyes at her youngest sister. "We've been so worried! We heard that the famous Commander Shepard was leading the fight against that Reaper and I thought something might happen to you! Seriously, I've never watched the news so much in my life. But, I didn't find your name in the military obits, so I guess that means you're okay... just give us a call, sis! I wanna see all these medals you're supposed to be getting. Think we can go to the ceremony?"

"Screw that," Abby piped up, nudging the youngest over so that she could get her face fully into view "Why don't you just come home for a visit? If you don't get any time off after all the shit you've been through, I'll personally come and kick the Ambassador's ass myself. Anyway, I'm _dying _to see your new man... only... he's not exactly a man, is he?"

The broad grin that had been planted on Ashley's face now slid into a cringe as she waited to hear what the response had been back home.

"C'mon Abby, don't be an ass," Sarah grinned, winking at the screen. "This guy must be the best turian who ever, _ever _lived, 'cause _somehow _he's got Ash totally hooked, right sis?" There was another cheeky smile for the camera.

"What's with that, anyway?" Abby frowned. "I thought you hated aliens, _especially _turians. You _do _remember what they did to dad, right?"

"You can't blame that all on the aliens," Sarah replied with a slight roll of the eyes. "Don't listen to her Ash, I think it's awesome. Look at it this way – human guys can really suck –"

"– Amen to that," Abby interrupted with a sage nod.

"So what's the harm in seeing what the competitions like?" Sarah finished, her bright smile illuminating the screen whilst Abby looked intrigued at the idea. Ashley knew her sister had just gone through a messy break-up with her _very _human boyfriend in the last few months. Who knew, maybe she'd be joining turian dating sites before the week was up? "Don't worry; Lynn is _totally _with me on this one...well, sort of. She's a little nervous about it; you know what she's like. I think she's a little weirded out that you're dating a turian, but the unexpected is what makes life worth living."

Abby shrugged at this little philosophical speech. She seemed to have lost the disdainful expression for now, but it was replaced by one of concern. She shook her head as she began to speak, her short neon-dyed hair bouncing as she did so. "It's mom you gotta worry about – she doesn't trust this Garrus guy. She keeps saying how he might be some kinda terrorist, or he might sell you to slavers, or give you some kind of freaky-ass disease that only aliens get... or get this – he might _eat_ you."

"Eat me?!" Ashley mouthed at the screen. She appreciated that it was her family being protective of her instead of being the other way round as it often was, but they didn't half come out with ridiculous suggestions sometimes.

The mail erupted with waves of raucous laughter from her sisters. "You know what might change her mind?" Sarah began with a sly smile. "Maybe you could bring him home for a meet-the-family weekend?"

Ashley shuddered at the thought. The last thing she wanted was to bring Garrus back to meet her distrustful mother and her overly-inquisitive sisters. Aside from the fact that the turian was way too argumentative to hold a sensible conversation with any of them for long enough, there was a good chance that her mother might ask some really embarrassing questions, or even worse – she might pull out the baby photos.

...

Now that the mostly-positive mail from home had lifted her mood, Ashley took a trip up to the med-bay, where Garrus, Tali and Shepard had been spending most of their time since they returned from their impromptu trip to the Citadel.

She'd been worried as hell when they'd first been brought back to the Normandy. All had been in fairly bad shape, sporting broken bones and all-sorts, and there had been a short scare when Dr. Chakwas had fretted over whether Tali's wounds had been infected. The quarian, however, made a good recovery, and was up and about soon after, though not nearly as soon as Shepard, who had lain still for all of five seconds before she wanted to get up and arrange meetings with the Council and whoever else.

She entered the med-bay, finding it unusually empty, except for the turian resting complacently on one of the beds. Ashley couldn't help but grin as she watched him, completely oblivious to her presence. She had been distraught and baying for geth blood (Well maybe not blood, but...) when they had first brought Garrus in, supported by two C-Sec officers and in bad shape. All that time, she had been more concerned for his welfare than she had ever thought possible – not that she would ever admit it.

"You know, you're _really _lazy," she grinned as she drew closer to the hospital bed he was sitting on.

Garrus seemed faintly surprised. "I am?"

"Yup. You've been out of commission for ages now, while the rest of us work our butts off trying to sort out the Citadel and what's left of the fleet. We lost a lot of guys saving your alien asses."

"I hope you don't think it was a waste of time, chief," he replied, deciding to take her comments with a pinch of salt these days.

Ashley plonked down on the bed beside him with a broad smile still lighting up her face. "Course I don't – if we hadn't come to the rescue, your scaly butt would've been fried by now, and I can't have that."

"I appreciate it," he growled softly, his hand finding its way to her leg, fingers gently trailing upwards. He leaned closer and she felt his hot breath on her neck.

"Slow down there," she laughed, lifting her forefinger and placing it over his mouth before he got carried away. "We're all wanted in the comm room. Shepard's piling everyone in there so she can give a big pep talk. Bet you a fifty credits she'll mention _something_ about making nice to non-humans. She throws that in whenever she can."

Garrus gave a small sigh of disappointment, but quickly covered it up, as though he thought the Commander might somehow know that he had momentarily considered blowing the meeting off for an hour alone with the Gunnery-Chief. "Alright, I accept. After an attack on the Citadel, I'm sure the commander will have other things on her mind than improving race-relations."

"Don't bet on it – oh, too late!"

She headed up to the comm room, where just about all of the personnel aboard the Normandy were gathered. Nudging a few other crew members aside, Ashley managed to work her way to the front, so she got a clear view of the battle-worn commander. Garrus stood close beside her, mostly because the room was cramped as hell with everyone packed round the door, but she couldn't help but think that their relationship had matured a little. It had for her anyway. If she could be open with her family about her relationship with Garrus, then the whole crew and every last person in the galaxy could see her kiss the damn turian for all she cared.

"We've got a hard fight ahead, people," Shepard announced, her voice filling not only the room, but the ship, as Joker broadcast it over the Normandy's comms. "The Reapers are coming, and _we're_ going to be the ones on the frontlines, _united_ with the rest of the galaxy to bring them down. I _know_ we can do it, but we're not alone in this..."

Ashley smirked as the Commander's speech continued, and murmured under her breath to the turian, "Fork over my credits, smartass."

He chuckled quietly and slid an arm around her waist, attracting a few nosy glances from the other crew members, and a mysterious gagging noise from Wrex.

As Shepard continued her speech about working with the other races to rebuild the Citadel and fight the Reapers, Ashley felt strangely comfortable. She knew the fight ahead would be hard. Sometimes, it might seem impossible. But she had Garrus, and she honestly didn't care anymore what anyone thought about that.

...

**^_^ **

**T****hank you and goodnight!!**


End file.
